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Sri Lankan migrant case before Canadian SC
Oct 10, 201402:30 PM
A group of Sri Lankan migrants arrested in Canada five years ago over their alleged involvement in illegally arriving in to the country, will have their cases heard by Canada’s Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court said Thursday it plans to look at a number of cases calling into question the depth and breadth of Canada’s human smuggling laws.
Four of the five cases the court will consider together involve people connected to the arrival of ships full of Sri Lankan migrants off the coast of B.C. The first ship arrived in 2009 with 76 Sri Lankan Tamils aboard; the second, the MV Sun Sea, came in 2010 with 492 migrants.
Their arrival prompted a national debate about Canada’s existing refugee and human smuggling legislation, and spurred the government into promising a crackdown.
Passengers on the ships paid between $30,000 and $40,000 for a berth on the voyage and made refugee claims upon their arrival. But those who worked on the ships were arrested and charged as human smugglers. Those charges, along with the subsequent immigration proceedings, are what will be examined by the high court.
In three cases, the people claim they were forced to work on the ships after they were abandoned by the original crew, and as a result should not have been caught up under existing laws. - ctvnews
