Posted by admin on Sep 13th, 2010
The Kingston Whig Standard, Sep 13 2010
More than three weeks ago, a ship arrived off the coast of British Columbia carrying almost 500 Tamil refugees. After the ship entered Canadian waters, it was boarded by Canada Border Services Agency officers and the RCMP, after which the ship was escorted to CFB Esquimault where all of the passengers were subsequently detained and are now being held in three different detention centres, including a youth detention centre, in B.C. The centres have been told to prepare to hold the refugees for a period of three to four months. Sound like a familiar story? By now it should. Only last December did the Queen Lady arrive with 76 Tamil refugees, all of whom were detained while the CBSA attempted to prove they had connections to the Tamil Tigers, a group controversially labelled as a terrorist organization by Canada’s Conservative government. After more than a month, all the detainees had been released. The government was forced to admit that the men on board the Queen Lady had no proven connections to the Tamil Tigers.
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Posted by admin on Sep 13th, 2010
PHOTOS: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nooneisillegal/
Over 100 people gathered in front of the Burnaby Youth Custody prison where approximately 90 Tamil refugee mothers and children are being incarcerated. Locked out of the facility, for over two hours supporters banged on pots and pans to the beats of Tamil music.
nenje nenje, nee engai, naanum angai.
(soul, wherever you are, i am there too.)
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Posted by admin on Sep 12th, 2010
by Andre Guimond, Vancouver Media Co-op
At first, it was hard to tell if there was anyone inside the drab brown brick detention center. The four security guards and a few RCMP cars were a clue, though: someone must be in there. And, if you looked closely, you could see the small children of the recently-landed Tamil refugees clambering up into a window set far back from the road, trying to get a better look through the bars at where all the noise was coming from. A man with a high-powered camera zoomed in to find ear-to-ear smiles radiating from the excited kids, and the crowd banged on, buoyed by the children’s delight at the cacophony of pots, pans, drums and tambourines, and outpouring of compassion and support.
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Posted by admin on Sep 7th, 2010
Duncan Campbell in Vancouver, guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 7 September 2010 16.58 BST
The arrival off the west coast of Canada of a rusty boat containing nearly 500 exhausted Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers has sparked an angry debate about racism that has divided national opinion. The merchant vessel Sun Sea limped, under escort, into Esquimalt naval base in British Columbia on 13 August after a four month voyage from Songkhla in Thailand. The passengers spoke of grim conditions. One man died during the journey and was buried at sea. “It is a miracle that they survived,” David Poopalapillai of the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) told the Guardian. “The boat is very primitive, you wouldn’t even go out fishing in it.” He ascribed their survival to the fact that they had been living for many months in very hostile conditions in Sri Lanka.
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Posted by admin on Sep 2nd, 2010
By Jennifer Moreau, Burnaby Now September 2, 2010
A refugee rights group is planning a protest at Burnaby’s youth detention centre in support of the Tamil migrants held in custody. No One Is Illegal is set to rally this Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1:30 p.m. outside the Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre, where 25 Tamil women and 34 children are being held. The group’s Harsha Walia said the migrants should be released immediately.
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