Tamil migrants must pay smuggling debt or stay in detention
Gov't to Tamils: pay smugglers or stay in jail
Government lawyers argue that it's a way to ensure the migrants won't be influenced by smugglers when they're let go. But critics say the tactic funnels money to smugglers the government is trying to hurt.
"It's shameful," said Ujjal Dosanjh, the Liberal candidate for Vancouver-South. "This is an extortion of the refugee claimants to pay the smugglers who are the guilty party in the first place."
CTV News reviewed 15 transcripts of detention reviews conducted by the Immigration and Refugee Board where debt to smugglers was a factor in detention.
In one of those cases, debt was the only factor that kept a Tamil migrant detained in January. But that migrant was able to show his family had paid his debts by February -- and he was ordered released.
So, even though the government regards smuggling as a criminal act, it wants the criminals to be paid by their victims?
Shouldn't the smugglers, y'know, be in jail?
Cons extorting money on behalf of criminals
The smugglers said they weren't going to work on the sign crew until they got paid.
kinda like how they expect prostitutes and drug dealers to claim their income for taxes, even though it's illegal. Except in this case it's like the feds settling a drug debt FOR the dealers...
And on what basis does the government even care if this "debt" is settled? if it's not a transaction that is legal, and it didn't take place in canada...
Tamils continue struggle for self-determination after Sri Lanka's killing fieldsTwo years later, despite government claims to the contrary, the humanitarian situation has not improved for the Tamil people living in the war-affected Vanni region. According to a 2011 European Commission report, access to humanitarian relief and medical care is hindered and the occupation of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in the northeast does not allow life to return to normalcy.
Even with the alarming death toll and proclamations about the "end of the war," a sustainable peace is unlikely due to the Sri Lankan government's rejection of any meaningful political action to address Tamil grievances and the desire for self-determination. The Sri Lankan Defense Minister, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, stated that he "found no requirement" for a power-sharing deal with the Tamil people in the northeast region of the island "now that the LTTE is gone." This type of reaction is evidence of the hardline Sri Lankan nationalism that exists within the island and that has prevented peace from being achieved.