After her husband was assassinated during midnight mass at a church in Sri Lanka on Christmas Eve 2005, Canada welcomed Sugunanayake Joseph. Former foreign affairs minister Bill Graham spoke at a memorial service for her husband, Joseph Pararajasingham, a Sri Lankan MP, calling him a “man of peace.†Five years later, the Immigration and Refugee Board has ordered the 74-year-old Toronto grandmother deported, concluding her role as a politician’s wife — supporting her late husband’s career and accompanying him to political events — amounted to membership in a designated terrorist organization. “My husband was not a terrorist,†Joseph told the Star on Thursday. “I am also not a terrorist. He was an innocent man. A man of the people.â€
VOYAGE OF THE MV SUN SEA
492 — On board.
380 — Men.
63 — Women.
49 — Children.
5 – Unaccompanied minors.
1 — Died at sea.
107 — Remain in detention (as of Feb. 10).
32 — Allegedly inadmissible for terrorism, organized crime and war crimes.
45 — Smuggling agents involved.
$20,000-30,000 — Smuggling fee.
Less than $30 — Cash most were carrying when they arrived.
15 — Sun Sea engine room crew.
Riot at migrant detention centre follows controversial deportation deal between Tunisian and Italian authorities. Al Jazeera. 12 Apr 2011 04:38
Tunisian migrants being held in a compound on the Italian island of Lampedusa have rioted after a controversial deal struck between Rome and Tunis last week paved the way for their deportation. Some of the migrants shouted “Freedom! Freedom!” at the centre where hundreds are being held. Other migrants started a small fire on Monday which was quickly put out by the fire brigade, local media reported, and dozens fled the enclosure.
Federal politicians have been attempting to gain sympathies with immigrant voters, while simultaneously spouting racist rhetoric. A Conservative party ad depicts the MV Sun Sea carrying 492 Tamil refugees as “criminals who target Canadian generosityâ€. Despite the fact that Immigration Minister Jason Kenney must be (or should be) versed in refugee law and the internationally upheld reality of irregular migration, he justified the ad: “Anyone who’s coming to Canada illegally is breaking our laws. Such statements are not only misleading, they are deliberately irresponsible in facilitating and feeding off a growing anti-migrant sentiment. An Ottawa Sun editorial, for example, parroted that the migrants are “queue-jumpers, scam artists, back-door home invaders, plus a terrorist or two…Truth is, none is even a bona fide refugeeâ€, and suggested firing on the ship: “Lock and load would be our approach.”
Last week was not a good one for Australian attempts to establish a pan-Asia framework for assessing asylum applications. At a conference in Bali, prime minister Julia Gillard’s plan for a processing centre on Timor-Leste failed to gain traction. A “regional co-operation framework” with a “centre or centres” was cited as an aspiration. Nothing, though, was fixed. Promises of a centre somewhere, one day, do not convey the urgency the Australian government claims it has. Politically in Australia, the consensus is that quick action is needed. Boats full of asylum seekers keep arriving. A fortnight ago, the detention centres on Christmas Island burned after riots over application delays and overcrowding; hundreds of detainees temporarily roamed loose.
