Sun Sea “refugees” expose government foot-dragging on reform

OTTAWA – The arrival of a shipload of Tamil migrants off Canada’s west coast intending to claim refugee status exposes how little progress the Conservative government has made in fixing this country’s badly broken refugee system since coming to office in 2006.

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“We are no better prepared to handle a situation like this under the Conservatives than we were under the Liberals,” said Joseph C. Ben-Ami, President of the Canadian Centre for Policy Studies. “The Conservatives’ foot-dragging on this has been quite disappointing really.” “Canadian law far exceeds, in many aspects, what is required by international agreements in dealing with refugee claimants,” explained Ben-Ami. “For instance, we under no obligation to entertain refugee claims made by those arriving from a safe-country, and yet we do it all the time. Some will say that this is a sign of our greater compassion. In fact, the opposite is true.” “Most legitimate refugees actually lack the capacity to make their way as far as Canada. Instead of working with our partners in the international community to resettle these genuine refugees, we are forced to waste precious resources on a never-ending process of investigations, hearings and appeals for bogus claimants here. “The U.N. itself has determined that members of Sri Lanka’s Tamil community are in no danger. As such, there are no legitimate grounds for passengers on board the Sun Sea to make a refugee claim. They ought to be put on a plane home immediately where they can apply to come to Canada like everyone else.” Canadian Centre for Policy Studies

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