To get on the boat.
Migrant ship likely tied to Indonesian smuggling ring
A ship carrying dozens of unidentified men seized off the coast of B.C. on Saturday might be part of a massive, international people-smuggling operation run by an Indonesian ship captain.
Abraham Lauhenapessy, known as Captain Bram, was recently arrested aboard a boat carrying 255 Sri Lankan asylum seekers off the coast of western Java, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith confirmed Monday.
Some of the Sri Lankans on that vessel told officials they knew about the ship with 76 other asylum seekers picked up by Canadian authorities off Vancouver Island on Saturday
They said they had been offered places on that vessel, the Ocean Lady, but chose to try to reach Australia instead because at $15,000 US, it was much cheaper than the Canadian option, which cost $45,000 US.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/19/bc-migrant-ship-indonesia-captain-bram.htmlMIGRANT SHIP
They are dozens of desperate men, who poured faith and fortune into one dubious lady to carry them to Canada.
A great deal of mystery still surrounds the seventy-six migrants found aboard the rusty freighter, Ocean Lady, that was seized by Canadian authorities off the coast of Vancouver Island on Friday. But today, unconfirmed details of their ordeal are surfacing. The men, who have been transferred to Maple Ridge, B.C., for processing by Canadian Border Services, appear to be Tamils hailing from Sri Lanka.
David Poopalapillai is a spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress. We reached him in Vancouver.
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/latestshow.htmlhttp://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/asithappens/20091019-aih-2.wmv