They will all be housed in prisons when they arrive in Victoria.
VANCOUVER - RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency are expected to board a ship that may be carrying Tamil Tigers sometime this week, says the spokesman for a B.C. municipality.
John Leeburn with the District of Maple Ridge, 45 kilometres east of Vancouver, said Tuesday that two local prisons will be used to house those on board the MV Sun Sea.
The Thai cargo ship is reported to be carrying about 200 Sri Lankans.
Ottawa has expressed concern about members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam — a banned terrorist organization in Canada — being on board the vessel.
Leeburn said district officials were briefed about the plan late last week by wardens at the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre and the Alouette Correctional Centre for women.
"What we were told was that mid-week this week, the RCMP and Canada Border Services would be boarding the vessel off-shore and that ultimately the vessel would dock in Victoria," he said in an interview.
Leeburn said about 100 men and 80 women would then be transported to the two provincial prisons. He couldn't say where any children would be housed if they were found on board.
RCMP declined comment on the matter Tuesday. Foreign Affairs could not immediately be reached.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Monday the federal government is monitoring the situation closely. He declined to comment on the specifics of the government's plan.
Toews did say that while the government is committed to protecting genuine refugees, it will thwart those who try to abuse Canada's immigration policies.
The ship heading to British Columbia contains both members of the Tamil Tigers, the military arm of the Tamil separatist movement, and Sri Lankan Tamils who paid them huge sums for safe passage, said Professor Rohan Gunaratna, at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Gunaratna, who's studied the organization for more than 20 years, said the MV Sun Sea was initially bound for Australia but changed course when its crew realized the country has toughened up its refugee laws.
"The Tamil Tigers currently are laughing at Canada, how naive the Canadians are, and I believe that Canada should take a stand that it will not permit anyone who has engaged in terrorism ... to enter Canada," he said.
Two more ships are set to deploy from Thailand or Indonesia in coming months based on Canada's response to the MV Sun Sea, he said.
Whatever it is they do with these illegal immigrants when they land here just isn't working- surely amongst the powers that be there is one "bright candle" who can figure that out. :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: