Canada’s former intelligence chief to visit Sri Lanka [September 10 2010]

Canada’s ex- intelligence chief Ward Elcock is to visit Sri Lanka in his trip to South Asia to improve cooperation and information sharing to stop Tamil asylum seekers from sailing to Canada, the Canadian Press reported.

Elcock, the former Head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, has been appointed by the Canadian government as Special Envoy to Southeast Asia to prevent human smuggling.

He will travel to Sri Lanka, Thailand and other countries in the region to get their assistance to prevent ship loads of asylum seekers coming to Canada.

According to Canadian Press, in August, the MV Sun Sea showed up off the coast of Vancouver Island with almost 500 Tamil passengers on board, fleeing Sri Lanka via Thailand. It was the second such ship in less than a year, prompting speculation the Tamil Tigers terrorist group is targeting Canada as a destination.

Canadian government is now looking into the possibilities of strengthening its immigration laws to control human smuggling.