A migrant smuggled to Canada aboard the freighter MV Sun Sea is wanted on a nationwide arrest warrant after he failed to show up for his deportation three weeks ago, sources said Tuesday.
Although the Sri Lankan man’s refugee claim had been denied and his appeal to the courts had been rejected, the Canada Border Services Agency agreed to release him from custody five days before he was to be deported.
When he didn’t turn up for his scheduled removal, the CBSA issued an arrest warrant on Feb. 13. Although it seems likely he has gone into hiding, migrants facing deportation will sometimes leave Canada on their own without notifying the authorities.
The CBSA would not discuss the case, citing privacy considerations. Nor would it say whether other Sun Sea migrants were wanted on immigration warrants. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’ spokeswoman also declined to comment on the matter.
Organized by a Sri Lankan smuggling syndicate that charged passengers hefty fees, the Sun Sea sailed from Thailand, arriving off the British Columbia coast in August 2010. All those on board made refugee claims. As of last month, 72 of the claims had been rejected while 65 had been accepted. Another 26 passengers have been ordered deported because they were members of the ship’s crew or former Tamil Tigers rebels.
The smuggling ship was one of two that arrived off Vancouver Island in the aftermath of a brutal civil war between Sri Lankan government forces and separatist rebels fighting for independence for the island’s ethnic Tamil minority.
During the final months of the war, the missing migrant was detained in a Sri Lankan government camp, where he said he was treated harshly and questioned about whether he had ties to the rebels, but he denied any involvement.
With the help of a smuggler, he fled in 2010 to Thailand and boarded the Sun Sea. The Immigration and Refugee Board rejected his claim on the grounds that neither the Sri Lanka Army nor the government suspected he had been a member of the rebels. The Federal Court of Canada denied his appeal in April 2012.
He then tried three times to delay his deportation but the CBSA refused, first in November, then in December and finally in February. “Based on the information provided, I am unable to conclude that removal to Sri Lanka at this time would expose the applicant to risk of death, extreme sanction or inhumane treatment,” the officer wrote.
On the day he was supposed to be deported, the Federal Court rejected his request for a stay of removal. His Toronto lawyer then made an emergency appeal to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, but the judge also dismissed the case.
“I can see no error in the CBSA officer’s extensive and careful reasons denying deferral of removal,” he wrote. “I find that he has not shown on a balance of probabilities that he will suffer irreparable harm and that the applicant does not meet the test for an injunction.”
The Sun Sea migrants have said they fled persecution in Sri Lanka, which has been widely criticized over its wartime conduct and for failing to take meaningful steps to address the longtime grievances of ethnic Tamils.
In a recent ruling, however, the Federal Court said the passengers of the Sun Sea had a “myriad of motives” for coming to Canada. “Some were human smugglers. Some may well have been terrorists. Some were garden-variety criminals who wanted to escape justice. Some had serious reason to fear persecution in Sri Lanka and some … were economic migrants.” (NationalPost)
