I don't know if you USA types have been following this, ship of Tamils lands in Canada

[HEyHEY]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/tamil-migrant-ship-docks-in-bc/article1671766/

Raises interesting questions. It is assumed some are Tamil Tigers. The tigers are a listed terrorist organization, but the Sri Lankan government hasn't exactly been humane since the war ended. Unlike many assholes I've read on Canadian news sites, I think these guys all need to be processed properly and given refugee status on a case by case basis.

If they are legit refugees and are of good character, let them stay. Otherwise there is another issue, Canada doesn't extrodite to countries with the death penalty, so what they hell do you do with them?

[Grey]

1. At a guess, I would say

We will do just exactly the same thing as we did with the last several shiploads.
We are Canadian, after all.

[HEyHEY]

2. Well, there's just been the one before, and the Chinese ones from the 90s

That kind of just faded away, didn't it?

[Grey]

6. and this will too.

But it will be fun to watch steve get his knickers in a twist,
My daughter helped work with the people on the "two rustbuckets" that showed up near Haida gwaii, then called the Queen Charlotte Islands. They were escorted to Vancouver Island. All the rules are in place and it goes fairly well. Our government people are very professional. They have done this before and will, no doubt, do it again.

It was just sad to watch that CBC reporter behave so badly, He should never have let his prejudices show. This guy was simply frothing at the mouth, and oozing hate. Not what one expects from CBC.

[HEyHEY]

9. What reporter? I didn't see this? Milewski?

I worked for CBC Vancouver for three years outta the Vancouver newsroom. I left because the standards were turning to shit, and it's no accident. They brought in US consultants to turn it into action news.

[Grey]

10. sorry, I didn't catch the name.

I have seen him around, on broadcasts before but could not put a name to him.

[Poll_Blind]

3. FYI, these refugees are just Tamils. Tamil TIGERS are a political/terrorist org.

I believe. It's kind of the same mistake as calling a boatload of Vietnamese refugees a boatload of "Viet Cong". I think you made the mistake purely by accident, BTW.

PB

[HEyHEY]

4. Yeah, good point, I'll correct that.

[niyad]

5. I heard this on amy goodman a bit ago. will be keeping track of it.

[closeupready]

7. Some of them may have been active in insurgent activities during the civil war.

Not so much unlike what happened in Afghanistan back in 1980.

[leftyclimber]

8. What do you do? You avoid another Komagata Maru incident.

Which is what looks like is happening, thankfully. Assuming that nobody gets shipped back. The political situation in Sri Lanka is complex enough that I can't say what would be appropriate for anyone who turned out to be a member of the Tamil Tigers. I don't have the expertise or understanding to make a judgment on that.

I agree with you that refugee status should be processed on a case by case basis. Would certain individuals be a danger to Canada? Is there a country willing and able to take them, if so? Is there some sort of international precedent for dealing with this kind of situation? I don't have a good answer, because I genuinely don't know.

[Prometheus Bound]

11. Why we should welcome boatful of Tamil refugees into Canada

Why we should welcome boatful of Tamil refugees into Canada
By Harsha Walia, Special to the Sun August 13, 2010 9:00 PM

<snip>
With little substantiation, officials and media are regurgitating the refrain of "terrorists," "illegals" and "queue jumpers." Yet refugee advocates have repeatedly reminded us that there is no queue for refugees. It is inherent to the refugee experience that one does not wait in a line, fearing serious harm or death, to make the difficult decision to flee. Nor are they so-called illegals; they are asylum seekers. Canadian and international refugee law recognizes that many asylum seekers will be forced to travel irregularly, including by boat, to seek safety.

Relying on sound-bites about organized crime and terrorism is the best way to close public debate about government actions. Instead of relying on sensationalism, let us ask: On what basis are the Tamil migrants being declared terrorists? Is it even logical that well-financed and often state-backed terrorists or traffickers would suffer in a three-month long, arduous journey risking death? Even if we believe that women and children were forced onto this boat, how do we justify jailing them as a humane response?

<snip>

So Canadian officials are either continuing to make uninformed statements despite the lack of evidence, or they are deliberately relying on the racist stereotyping of all Tamils as likely being associated with terrorism in order to fuel public fears. Their irresponsibility is facilitating a climate where anti-immigration advocates are gaining more traction in their demands for the boat to be sent back and for Canada to stop welcoming refugees.

Frankly, I think there is more reason to be mistrustful of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews than of the migrants. Their regime has advanced an agenda of corporate bailouts and economic austerity; ballooning military, police and prison budgets; unmitigated resource extraction and environmental destruction; and an immigration policy that is moving toward the repressive Australia and Arizona models of accepting fewer refugees and jailing more asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. These politicians sell us strange paradoxes - military occupation as liberation, refugees as terrorists.

Harsha Walia has a law degree and is a local activist with, among other social justice groups, No One Is Illegal.]

http://www.vancouversun.com/should+welcome+boatful+Tamil+refugees+into+Canada/3398770/story.html