Category: Canada

Vancouver Update: Ship tied to terrorist Tamil Tigers

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Sri Lankan ship that landed in British Columbia three weeks ago (here) has been tied to the Tamil Tigers.  The Canadian government says it will deport all those on board who are found to be connected to the terrorist group. 

From AFP:

VANCOUVER, Canada — Several of a group of 76 Sri Lankan asylum seekers picked up off the Canadian coast last month have ties to the Tamil Tiger rebels and could pose a security risk, officials said Tuesday.

The Canadian government told an immigration hearing that the “Ocean Lady” freighter used to transport the migrants has been linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), panel spokeswoman Paula Faber told AFP.

The vessel had “possibly been used for arms shipments” and the men should continue to be detained “on national security grounds,” government officials told the hearing, according to Faber.

Tests showed two of the men detained had explosive residue on their clothes, the officials said.

Similar ships with would-be asylum seekers have arrived in Australian waters, see our category on Australia for those stories.

Salim Mansur, courageous Canadian Muslim professor

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Since we often draw attention to the damage various Muslims are doing to our society, I’d like to give some space to Salim Mansur, someone I just heard about thanks to a friend who sent me this column by Rory Leishman in the London (Ontario) Free Press. It begins:

Among post-modern multiculturalists, it’s commonplace to suppose that all cultures are of equal moral worth. Salim Mansur, professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario, emphatically disagrees.

In an illuminating collection of essays entitled Islam’s Predicament: Perspectives of a Dissident Muslim, he maintains Islam is afflicted with “a terrible malady,” which “reflects the irreparable breakdown of the civilization’s centre . . . which at one time in history was co-equal, if not briefly superior, to Christendom.”

Paraphrasing William Butler Yeats, Mansur contends that Islam is in the grips of a “rough beast” that has let loose anarchy upon the world. He traces the problem back to the earliest days of Islam, when perverse Muslim rulers renounced the peaceful teachings of the Qu’ran by slaughtering each other in a bloody struggle for political power following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632.

Leishman then relates Mansur’s damning accounts of two major current figures in Islam, and concludes:

In the face of Islamist terrorism, Mansur deplores the “appeasement mentality” of liberal-left multiculturalists in the West as well as the “deafening silence of Muslims, except for lonely voices of feeble opposition.”

He likewise denounces the “double-speak” of Muslim intellectuals and religious leaders in mosques who say “contrary things in English or French and then in Arabic, or Farsi or Urdu.”

Mansur, of course, is a courageous exception: No Muslim has been more outspoken than he in unequivocally denouncing the Islamist terrorists who defame Islam.

As a Muslim, Mansur laments, “We keep assuring ourselves and others that Muslims who violate Islam are a minuscule minority, yet we fail to hold this minority accountable in public. We regularly quote from the Qu’ran, but do not make repentance for our failings as the Qu’ran instructs, by seeking forgiveness of those whom we have harmed.”

He concludes, “We Muslims are the source of our own misery, and we are not misunderstood by others who see in our conduct a threat to their peace.”

I checked around a bit to see what others say about Mansur. Last April he appeared at an event about which Mark Steyn had this to say:

Did you hear about the Catholic, the Jew and the Muslim who walked into a theatre in London, Ontario? It’s a stellar bill – Kathy Shaidle, Ezra Levant and Salim Mansur, three staunch friends of real human rights taking on Canada’s pseudo-“human rights” racket – live this Monday evening. If you’re in the neighborhood, make sure you’re there.

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch took issue with Mansur over his interpretation of Islam (I think) in a 2006 FrontPage symposium titled Death for Apostasy? and doesn’t seem to think much of him. However, it seems like an insider quarrel, based on Robert’s belief that Islam is so defective at its root that it cannot be redeemed. I don’t know enough to take sides on that, and I remain impressed. Mansur makes statements that could easily bring a fatwa down on him and probably has; I’m sure he’s received death threats. He seems perfectly open about the atrocities Muslims and Islam have committed and are committing today, so more power to him.

Canadian Tamil ship has impact on similar ship in Australian waters

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Another shipload of Tamil would-be “asylum-seekers” is being forced to stay at sea off Australia as politicians haggle.   The ultimate question, are there people with terror ties on board?   From World News Australia:

A group of 78 asylum seekers rescued by the Australian Navy face another three days at sea after Indonesian authorities turned them away from their destination.

[…..]

Outspoken MP Wilson Tuckey provoked the ire of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday by suggesting that terrorists could be hiding among groups of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia.

Mr Rudd called on Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull to withdraw his support for the veteran Liberal, in the wake of his “disgusting” comments.

But Mr Turnbull refused, and on Friday Mr Tuckey accused the Prime Minister of being “a bully” for trying to get him dumped from parliament.

Adding to the confusion, it has emerged that one of 76 migrants arrested on a rusted ship off Canada last week is wanted in Sri Lanka on terror charges – apparently adding weight to Mr Tuckey’s claim.

The 26-year-old man, whose identity was withheld due to a court-ordered publication ban, is being sought by Sri Lankan authorities who issued an Interpol notice for an unspecified terror offence.

For background, see my previous post, here, on the Tamil “refugee” ship in Vancouver.

Tamil Tiger believed to be among those on Vancouver “refugee” ship

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is an update of the story the other day from Canada.   It appears that Canadian authorities believe at least one of the 76 would-be asylum seekers who arrived in British Columbia is a member of the outlawed Tamil Tigers.  From AFP:

OTTAWA — One of 76 migrants arrested on a rusted ship off Canada’s Pacific Coast is wanted in Sri Lanka on terror charges, a source close to the investigation said Thursday.

The 26-year-old man, whose identity was withheld due to a court-ordered publication ban, is being sought by Sri Lankan authorities who issued an Interpol notice for an unspecified terror offense.

The source told AFP he is suspected of being involved with the Tamil Tigers, a separatist group outlawed by Canada for using suicide bombings in their struggle for Tamil independence from Sri Lanka.

“Individuals who are found to have terrorism or organized crime links are ineligible to make asylum claims in Canada,” said Alykhan Velshi, spokesman for Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

“Our government will be arguing in court or at asylum hearings that any individual who has links to terrorism or organized crime… should be deported.”

Now get this!  Apparently it’s out-of-bounds when trying to identify illegal aliens to ask their country of origin for help.   Oh brother!

The opposition Liberals meanwhile criticized federal authorities for seeking help from Sri Lankan authorities in establishing the identities of the migrants.

The 76 men were detained by federal police on Friday, after the Canadian navy seized the mysterious “Ocean Lady” freighter off Canada’s west coast.

What the heck! Tamils landing in Vancouver, BC

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update November 9th:  Ship linked to terrorist group, here.

Update October 24th:  One of the 76 has been identified as a member of the Tamil Tigers, here.

Update October 20th:  Excellent opinion piece about what this is going to cost Canada with more information about problems with Tamil immigrants in the past.

I have avoided getting into the whole Sri Lankan Tamil refugee issue, maybe just out of laziness—too weary perhaps to learn a whole new set of issues involving a new group of refugees that I wouldn’t be surprised end up in the US at some point.  It seems we can’t resist collecting more ethnic groups (see Rohingya are here).  Diversity is beautiful and all that!  Right?

But over the weekend a boatload of  illegal aliens, believed to be Tamils, have landed in Vancouver, BC so I feel compelled to no longer avoid the issue.   Before you read further, look at this map of Asia and note that Sri Lanka is on the east coast of India!  Why the heck, if they are just “asylum seekers,” did they need to come that far—there are a few places between Sri Lanka and Canada they could have landed!  And, these boats filled with all men are pretty fishy if you ask me.

From the Daily Mirror:

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Dozens of people, suspected to be Sri Lankans, who were aboard a mystery ship that was seized off Canada’s West Coast and towed into Victoria over the weekend were loaded onto buses on Sunday and ferried to the Vancouver-area for further screening.

The 76 males were found when the RCMP boarded a vessel displaying the name Ocean Lady on Friday near Port Renfrew and took control of the ship.

The Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP have revealed little else about the group, their origin or how they ended up on a ship sailing towards Canada.

The seizure has prompted speculation the case may involve human smuggling and potential refugee claims, possibly by Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka, but border agency officials confirmed none of that.

“The individuals have been transported to . . . a corrections facility in Vancouver, where the CBSA will continue to examine their admissibility to Canada,” Rob Johnston of the Canada Border Services Agency said in a brief statement Sunday.

“We are acting quickly to meet the immediate personal and health needs of these individuals, and we are processing them in an efficient manner and in accordance with Canadian law.”

On Friday afternoon, a naval vessel approached the Ocean Lady and armed RCMP officers boarded it and took control.

A challenge to the Canadian immigration system indeed!

Perrin, a former adviser to the federal immigration minister, said it’s important that whatever happens, the fate of the group from the Ocean Lady be determined quickly rather than languish in Canada’s slow-moving immigration and refugee system.

“If our immigration and refugee system does not work to quickly offer support to legitimate refugees and deny that protection where the claims are bogus, then it’s not going to help anyone,” said Perrin.

“This case will undoubtedly test Canada’s refugee process yet again, and I expect it will be additional pressure to the federal government.”

Who are the Tamils?

Tamil Tigers are considered one of the most organized, brutal and ruthless terrorist groups in the world.    That is according to Time magazine here.   I am not saying these illegal immigrants are Tamil Tigers, it’s just that when you do a little searching around the internet that is one of the first pieces of information one discovers about the decades long effort to create a Tamil state in Sri Lanka. 

Tamils invented suicide belts and child suicide bombers—great huh!

The Tigers were defeated in May of this year by the Sri Lankan military, thus creating this exodus of Tamils.

Here is more information on the Tamils at wikipedia and a CBC article from May that sheds some light on why Canada might have been an attraction for these boatmen.

A Human Rights Watch report released in March 2006 said the Tamil Tigers were using threats and intimidation tactics to extort money from Sri Lankans living in Canada. Fundraisers, often working in pairs, knocked on the doors of Tamil families to solicit donations.

The fundraisers were quoted as saying they were “collecting for the final war against the Sri Lankan government.” The donation drive targeted Tamil families in Toronto, home to one of the largest Tamil populations outside Sri Lanka.

“Tamils unable to pay say they have been told by LTTE fundraisers to borrow the money, make a contribution on their credit card or even re-mortgage their home,” Human Rights Watch said in a news release.

In April of 2006, the Canadian government added the LTTE to its official list of terrorist organizations for its use of suicide bombers and child soldiers in the conflict. The designation made it a crime to fundraise for the group.