Two more ships ready to set sail

By Manjula Fernando

The MV Sun Sea heading towards BC with 200 asylum seekers

Intelligence reports have indicated that two more ships ‘packed’ with illegal immigrants were on ‘standby’ in a Southeast Asian location, awaiting news of the fate of the occupants of the “MV Sun Sea”.

Defence sources who wished to remain anonymous said if Canadian authorities do not take action to thwart this human-smuggling operation by the LTTE, the other two ships may also take off on the same risky voyage from their current location.

The sources did not disclose how many people were on board the two ships and whether they were also operated by the LTTE.

As defence sources predicted last week, the ship heading to Canada would reach the coast of British Columbia by early August and the US Coast Guard in the Pacific area which is responsible for the West Coast told Canadian media that they have spotted the ship ‘believed’ to be heading towards British Colombia last weekend.

“The Sri Lanka High Commission has informed the Canadian government of the threat posed to Canadian national security by accepting bogus asylum seekers,” Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Canada Chitranganee Wagiswara told the Sunday Observer.

“Our Embassy has been in touch with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration and the security authorities regarding ‘MV Sun Sea’”, she said.

“MV Ocean Lady” (Princess Easwary), another suspected carrier of the LTTE ferried across 76 people to Vancouver last October. Although Canada was warned of the LTTE suspects among the passengers on board, officials later decided to release them from detention and process their asylum applications individually, due to lack of evidence. Their release was also driven by pressure from various local Tamil organisations, some of which are suspected LTTE fronts.

It is believed the soft stance adopted in dealing with this case would have prompted “MV Sun Sea” to follow suit and the other two ships were ready to set sail depending on the reception to “MV Sun Sea”.

Australia suspended processing asylum applications from Sri Lankans early this year and, since then there had been no reports of Sri Lankan boats heading towards Australia.

The MV Ocean Lady, an ex-LTTE arms ship

Diplomatic sources said the Canadian authorities were aware of the movements of “Sun Sea” known earlier as “Harin Panich 19”, a cargo ship registered in Thailand, since April and the human smuggling exercise.

If the ship enters the Canadian waters, the laws operational in this country do not allow them to turn back the ship. In similar to the people on board the “Ocean Lady” which landed in Vancouver in October 2009, the illegal immigrants on “MV Sun Sea” too will obviously seek asylum and the Canadian authorities will have to follow the procedure laid down under the Refugee Board regulations.

The Immigration Ministry, as a counter measure, did introduce new regulations recently to fast-track asylum procedures. However, the new laws and regulations will come into operation only in 2011, according to diplomatic sources.

Another possibility is that Canada would turn away the ship before it enters Canadian Territorial Waters, but the desperate occupants could cause a humanitarian crisis by trying to sink the ship or jumping overboard which may compel Canadian authorities to take action to rescue the passengers.

The captain of the ship, reportedly an LTTE leader identified as Vinod threatened a Royal Thai Navy patrol that several of his passengers will jump overboard if they were intercepted, when it was spotted in Thailand’s Exclusive Economic Zone last April, before it set sail to Canada.

Spokesperson of the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), David Poopalapillai reported to have stated that lawyers and aid workers were on standby to assist those on board “MV Sun Sea”, if the vessel arrives in Canada.

Despite the fact this is a grandscale human-smuggling operation and a major money spinner for those involved, he has appealed to the Canadian authorities to welcome the ship and grant asylum status to the passengers.

“We fully understand why they are taking this enormous risk to reach our country’s shores,” he told the Canadian media.

A maritime expert who had captained merchant ships for over 12 years during his 34 year long career as a seafarer, Capt. Sarath Weerawansa told the Sunday observer that the US Coast Guard and the Canadian authorities can intercept any vessel in the high seas and verify its mission, and if found to be connected to any criminal activity, turn it back.

Capt. Weerawansa who had not only navigated this sea route many times before, but also called over at the Vancouver port said interception in the high seas by US Coast Guard aircraft, to verify her cargo and destination had been a common experience for him.

“They demand identification, type of cargo and especially the details of Last Port of Call to cross check the information we submit.” Capt.Weerawansa who is now back in Sri Lanka after a horrendous experience which lasted for seven months at the hands of ruthless Somali pirates added the countries should not be lenient towards maritime criminals and should step up joint action to prevent sea piracy and human smuggling.