MV Alicia was headed for Canada, confirms Immigration Minister

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said he recently received information that validates the government's assertions that a migrant vessel intercepted in Indonesian waters this summer may have been bound for Canadian shores.

"Just as recently as last week, I was meeting with my Australian counterpart in Geneva and he said it was the Australian view that the (MV) Alicia was headed for Canada," Kenney said in an interview. "That seems to be a fairly widespread view."

Some critics, however, say the government needs to back up its claims with evidence and charge that the Tories seized on the incident to further a political agenda.

In July, Indonesian police intercepted the MV Alicia with 87 asylum-seekers from Sri Lanka onboard.

At the time, reports overseas suggested the ship might have been headed for New Zealand.

But in a news release and in statements to reporters, Canadian officials said the ship may actually have been destined for Canada.

"This incident in Indonesian waters of a vessel believed to contain illegal migrants destined for Canada in a human smuggling operation underscores the need for Parliament to act in passing our anti-human smuggling legislation," Kenney told reporters at the time.

Ottawa political consultant Keith Beardsley, a former senior adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said there are possible sensitivities related to the case that prevent the government from talking.

Kenney said the Government was trying to be transparent to Canadians about the threat of smuggling. He added that it's difficult to know for certain where a smuggling ship is headed because "we're dealing with dodgy criminal networks who don't publish formally their trip itineraries."

Mitra Salima Suryono, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Jakarta, Indonesia, said in an email this week that 85 of the MV Alicia's passengers registered as asylum-seekers with the agency and seven opted for voluntary repatriation to Sri Lanka.

- Vancouver Post