Interpol

[Wezil]

TORONTO — The suspected organizer of the MV Sun Sea, the human smuggling ship that brought almost 500 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to Canada in 2010, has been arrested in France, the RCMP confirmed Thursday.

Thayakaran Markandu was being held in custody by French authorities, police said, adding extradition proceedings were underway to bring him to Canada, where he could face life imprisonment and a $1-million fine.

The RCMP and Interpol had been looking for Mr. Markandu, a Sri Lankan citizen, since last month when he was charged over his alleged role in the Sun Sea operation, which was the work of smugglers based in Bangkok.

The National Post reported last year that Mr. Markandu had been arrested in Bangkok when the smuggling operation was underway, and that he had been carrying a French passport. Although he was caught with supplies for the ship, Thai authorities let him go with a fine.

He is the first person to face charges over the Sun Sea. The RCMP said in a brief statement it would not provide more information because the investigation remained active and was before the courts.

“We would like to take this opportunity to commend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Interpol and the French authorities for their efforts in apprehending Mr. Markandu,” Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said in a joint statement.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/05/mv-sun-sea-human-smuggling-suspect-thayakaran-markandu-arrested-in-france/

Interpol.

[The Mad Monk]

3 months on the MV Sun Sea: Tamil migrants describe their journey
Published On Sat Aug 21 2010Email Print
Rss Article
Migrants are escorted from the MV Sun Sea after it arrived in B.C. on Aug. 13. Most of the passengers were often seasick.

THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO

By Petti Fong
Western Bureau

Related
Canada to jail smugglers
Editorial: Justice for boat people
Ottawa plans 'mass arrival' class
Q&A: The refugee process
Other boat migrant cases
Canadian Tamil Congress letters issued on behalf of migrants
Let Tamils into Canada, advocates say
VANCOUVER—The days and nights on board the MV Sun Sea seemed endless but for some of the women on the cargo ship heading toward Canada, there were hopeful signs that their voyage had a destination in sight.

Their daily water ration of a quarter litre per person never changed during the months at sea, which gave them hope that their journey was organized and the Sun Sea was well-stocked.

“We made tea with rainwater and we used salt water to bathe,” said one of the women, now in detention in Burnaby. “The water was not clean. We have lots of scratches from bathing in sea water.”

The women and children were in the top and upper decks of the vessel and slept in tents; the men slept in hammocks below. When the weather turned bad, as it did frequently during the voyage, everyone had to move inside the ship, according to the woman, who spoke through an interpreter.

Most of the passengers were often seasick.

Despite the cramped quarters, there was no fighting between the passengers. Everyone, she said, just wanted to arrive safely.

One week after she and the other 491 men, women and children aboard the Sun Sea arrived under escort at CFB Esquimalt, detention review hearings were held throughout the Vancouver area as each migrant learned whether he or she must remain in secure facilities.

Forty-four children and 25 women are being held at the Burnaby detention centre. A minor who arrived without a parent is being cared for by an adult migrant.

All 492 migrants were ordered held for another week as Canadian Border Services agents and Immigration and Refugee Board members verified their identities.

The Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has said all the migrants — some of whom he identified were terrorists and or human smugglers and traffickers — are making refugee claims.

In a letter to the Star, some of the women pleaded to be allowed to stay: “We are not terrorists. If you think we are terrorists, please consider this: Can the children, pregnant women and seniors who came with us be terrorists? No.”

Speaking from the detention centre, the women said they had lived in prosperity in their native land but were forced to move by the Sri Lankan army at loss of property and lives. Under a publication ban imposed by the Immigration and Refugee Board, neither the women nor their villages can be identified.

Some described having to leave wounded family members to die because they couldn’t reach them in the unending rocket launches and gunfire.

“We cannot write our deep sorrow and anguish,” said the women.

In a new poll by Angus Reid Global Monitor, nearly half of respondents believe the Tamil migrants who arrived Aug. 13 should be deported.

The online survey of just over 1,000 Canadians, which has a margin of error 19 times out of 20, found that 48 per cent of those polled would deport the passengers from the Sun Sea. That’s even if the refugee claims are found to be legitimate and there is no discernible link between the migrant and a terrorist organization. Thirty-five per cent of those surveyed would allow them to stay in Canada as refugees if their claims are found legitimate.

Three in five Canadians believe the ship should have been turned back and not allowed to reach the country and more than 70 per cent of Canadians believe more ships will arrive in the next few months.

The migrants who arrived on board the Sun Sea must remain in detention for a week when the next mandatory review by the IRB begins Aug. 24.

Last October, 76 migrants claiming to be Tamil refugees arrived in B.C. on board the Ocean Lady. Following their second round of detention reviews, some were released. Eventually all were released and most are in Toronto waiting for their refugee claims to be processed.

The RCMP say the investigation is continuing into the alleged smugglers who organized the Ocean Lady’s voyage but no arrests have been made. A new investigation into the alleged smugglers for the Sun Sea is in its preliminary stage.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/850885--3-months-on-the-mv-sun-sea-tamil-migrants-describe-their-journey

Interpol

[The Mad Monk]

So nice I posted twice!

[Wezil]

Is there a point to your last article?

We aren't accepting most of the passengers as refugees hence smuggling them was okay?

[Wezil]

Oh, I get it. You accept their story.

In a letter to the Star, some of the women pleaded to be allowed to stay: “We are not terrorists. If you think we are terrorists, please consider this: Can the children, pregnant women and seniors who came with us be terrorists? No.”

People entering the country illegally often lie in order to stay.

[Wezil]

It's amusing btw to see a Limbaugh fan quoting The Star for evidence. Rush will take your Dittohead status away if you keep that up. It is a Liberal Party rag.

[The Mad Monk]

I gave it a thumbs up, didn't I? Clearly, removing women children from active war zones and bringing them to Canada is human smuggling of the very worst sort and should result in an international manhunt to bring the perpetrators to their well deserved punishments! Huzzah!!!

[DaShi]

Is there a point to your last article?

We aren't accepting most of the passengers as refugees hence smuggling them was okay?

TMM isn't really interested in discussion. He just wants confirmation that the nuts he agrees with are correct.

[Wezil]

I gave it a thumbs up, didn't I? Clearly, removing women children from active war zones and bringing them to Canada is human smuggling of the very worst sort and should result in an international manhunt to bring the perpetrators to their well deserved punishments! Huzzah!!!

You do realise the smuggling was used by the Tamils to raise funds to continue their acts of terrorism?

Bringing the perpetrators of this to justice is certainly worth a Huzzah. In fact two - Huzzah!

[Wezil]

TMM isn't really interested in discussion. He just wants confirmation that the nuts he agrees with are correct.

I never took him for a supporter of human smuggling and terrorism.

He acts like these guys were some sort of humanitarians.

[The Mad Monk]

You do realise the smuggling was used by the Tamils to raise funds to continue their acts of terrorism?

Bringing the perpetrators of this to justice is certainly worth a Huzzah. In fact two - Huzzah!

You're the one who brought him up out of the blue without a whiff of explanation, I just reacted to what a swift google search brought me. How the hell should I recognize whatever boogeyman you're trying to raise?

[The Mad Monk]

Here's a clue: google news is saying nothing on Tamil terrorism, but IS showing a few links on Sri Lankan war crimes.

[Wezil]

You're the one who brought him up out of the blue without a whiff of explanation, I just reacted to what a swift google search brought me. How the hell should I recognize whatever boogeyman you're trying to raise?

So you were just pulling things out of your virtual ass?

COLOMBO // Tamil Tiger militants based outside Sri Lanka are turning to human-smuggling operations to raise money in a bid to revive the group, which was decimated by government forces last year, a Sri Lankan terrorism specialist said yesterday. The rebel operatives who organised a human shipment aboard the Sun Sea cargo vessel that arrived in Canada last week charged up to C$50,000 (Dh31,333) per person, said Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. The ship had 492 Tamil migrants on board.

Mr Gunaratna, who has studied the Tamil Tigers for more than two decades, said the smuggling operations are part of an effort to raise funds to reactivate the group, whose military capabilities were destroyed by the Sri Lankan military in May 2009, ending nearly three decades of civil war. "The Tamil Tigers shipping and procurement network has transformed to a human smuggling network. Members of this unit have special skills to undertake clandestine transport from one destination to another," Mr Gunaratna said. "They had used this to transport arms and ammo and now transport people.

"They have two more ships and if the response in Canada [to accepting these migrants] is positive, the rebels will send more refugees to Canada. If Canada is not possible, they'll look for a new destination," he said. This was the second shipment of human cargo by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 10 months, the first arriving in Canada in October with 79 passengers, 30 of whom were former rebels, Mr Gunaratna said.

"This ship was the main carrier of arms and ammunition for the rebels during the conflict with 95 per cent of the arms coming from South Korea," he said yesterday in a telephone interview. The rebels earned C$1 million by smuggling the ethnic Tamils in October, Mr Gunaratna said. Reports from Canadian media said the smugglers earned C$20m from the latest shipment. Since its defeat, the LTTE has tried to reorganise itself through the support of the Tamil diaspora, elements of which funded the rebels during the civil war, Mr Gunaratna said. About one million Sri Lankan Tamils live abroad, while in Sri Lanka there are three million Tamils out of a population of 20 million. The rebels were fighting for a separate Tamil homeland, and also backed long-time political demands by mainstream Tamil groups for political and administrative power.

Mr Gunaratna said that after their defeat last year, the Tigers splintered into many factions. "Now a faction led by a Norway-based rebel is running the human-smuggling operations and trying to raise funds to resume an armed struggle," he said. The two ships left from Thailand with mostly nonrebel Sri Lankans who had migrated to India and South East Asia, Mr Gunaratna said. Tamils claim discrimination in education, land use, language and jobs allocation, and have been seeking more political and administrative rights in the north and east of the country, where they are the majority.

Dinesh Dodangoda, a former opposition member of parliament and now a Ph.D student in terrorism studies at St Andrew's University in Scotland, said that although the government may have destroyed the Tigers' military capability, the group will remain a potential threat as long as Sri Lanka refuses to address Tamil political demands. The Vancouver Sun in a report yesterday quoted Gloria Nafziger, a Toronto-based refugee coordinator with Amnesty International, which is monitoring Canada's treatment of the latest group of migrants, as saying that while the civil conflict in Sri Lanka is over, the country continues to be "a very dangerous place" for its Tamil minority.

Reports of arbitrary arrest, disappearances and torture of members of the country's Tamil minority are prevalent, as are reports of widespread sexual violence against women by security forces, the article stated. In the face of continuing discrimination against Tamils, Mr Gunaratna said the government behaves as if there is little threat from the rebels. He said Colombo is slow in responding to the anti-government propaganda abroad from the Tamil network and should respond to its allegations of mass murder committed against the Tamils.

"The fact is that the centre of gravity of the LTTE has shifted overseas from Sri Lanka," Mr Gunaratna said.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/south-asia/tamil-tigers-use-human-smuggling-in-bid-to-rearm

As to their terrorist activities - It was difficult to find (what kind of search terms could you possibly have used to miss Tamil terrorism?) you might want to look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Tigers_of_Tamil_Eelam#Human_rights_violations

or here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberat...nal_activities

And finally (since US government is important to you):

United States (designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Department of State since 8 October 1997. Named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) since 2 November 2001)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_Tigers_of_Tamil_Eelam#Proscription_as_a_terrorist_group

Now you know.

[The Mad Monk]

So you were just pulling things out of your virtual ass?

As to their terrorist activities - It was difficult to find (what kind of search terms could you possibly have used to miss Tamil terrorism?) you might want to look here:

The terms would have been "tamil sri lankan"

...and where the **** in post #16 did you say anything about terrorism?

[The Mad Monk]

Also you're the one who started by popping that ferret out your virtual pants.