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100716_MigrantShip

200 Sri Lankan refugees headed for Canada: report

Migrants “trying to take advantage of our system,” says government
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Canadian authorities are monitoring a ship that’s believed to be smuggling 200 Tamil migrants from volatile Sri Lanka. The Sun Sea was last seen off the Gulf of Thailand. Sri Lanka’s Sunday Observer newspaper reported that experts now believe the ship is headed for Canada, rather than Australia as originally suspected. If it lands, it will be the largest number of migrants ever smuggled into Canada at once, according to the Vancouver Sun. The Ocean Lady, which carried 76 Tamil asylum seekers, arrived in B.C. last October. They are now making their way through the refugee claim process. “This could end up being a prime example of individuals trying to take advantage of our generous immigration system,” said Celyeste Power, spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Vancouver Sun

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