Posted on 08/11/2010 9:20:59 PM PDT by OldDeckHand
VANCOUVER — A suspected Tamil migrant boat now believed to hold as many as 500 refugees has entered Canada's 200-mile exclusive economic zone and is heading for the B.C. coast.
"We expect it will land either late (Thursday) evening or early Friday morning," a senior federal official said Wednesday of the Thai-flagged ship, the MV Sun Sea.
While Canadian Navy and Coast Guard authorities would neither confirm nor deny the whereabouts of the vessel Wednesday, US Coast Guard Commander Mark McCadden said that the 188-ft cargo ship had been spotted approximately 300 miles off the coast of British Columbia early Wednesday morning.
-snip-
"We are looking to send a message to these people who are usually (part of) criminal organizations, in some cases with possible terrorist connections in the case of the Tamil Tigers...that we are not going to allow our laws to be broken."
(Excerpt) Read more at vancouversun.com ...
A (I assume) conservative in Victoria! Greetings...lived in Van for a couple years-not alot of like minded there. Victoria is gorgeous…
Put that on my wish list. Thanks!
>>
A good message would start with .50 cal rounds.
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Wow. What an awful thing to say.
20mm canon would be faster.
:-)
Are they Thai, Indian or Sri Lankan Tamils? If they’re like the Vietnamese boat people I hope they’ve found safe harbor. That’s quite a trip to make.
I think they think they're Sri Lankan, but they're not sure. In fact, they suspect some of the "refugees" might actually be actual terrorists.
They won't know what's what until they actually board the vessel and get an accurate accounting of what is going on.
The Sir Lankan Tamil Tigers are mean motor scooters and international immigrants know they can show up in Vancouver, without any papers and claim asylum. Its CRAZY!
the Tamil Tigers — the banned terrorist organization whose military wing was defeated by the Sri Lankan army last year.
Chitranganee Wagiswara, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Canada, said her government believes the cargo ship is tied to the Tamil Tigers — a group she says profits greatly from human smuggling.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100812/tamil-ship-bc-100812/
I know that about 15 years ago, a German rust bucket set out from Germany, with persons from Pakistan or nearby. The German authorities had them detained in a holding camp in Germany. Obviously the Germans did not want to grant them refugee status. They were in close confinement and it could not have been very amenable.
The Captain off loaded them in small boats and they came ashore in Eastern Canada to Nova Scotia. Then he took off. I have never followed the 127 applicants for refugee status though. It was argued that they were not refugees, actually coming from Germany. This, I believe did not gain any credibility. I presume they got as far as Germany in a rust bucket. The only way for Canada is to get the smugglers and make it non-profitable.
(1) August 1986. 152 persons from the Punjab in India, on cargo boat "Amelia". They paid 3,700 dollars to 5000 dollars per head. Claimed persecution as being Sikhs. The Canadians seized the rust bucket.
(2) July 1987. 152 Sri Lankans of Tamil origin, put off in small boats and were five days at sea. They paid 3500 dollars to 5000 dollars per head. The freighter, off Nova Scotia's shores. I believe captained by a German, went back pretty quick. It could not be intercepted as was hoped for.
Just in, is that each claim for refugee status takes 16 to 25 months and costs (they say) four thousand dollars each application. Such massive humanitarian outpouring going on now. Though I do care for my fellow human beings, this just has to be an "open door"
Follow the money.
Bumping, thanking you, and placemarking.
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