One of the Sri Lankan asylum-seekers who arrived in B.C. onboard the MV Sun Sea will remain in detention so that the government can look into newspaper reports connecting him to the Tamil Tigers.
Melissa Anderson, spokeswoman for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, told ctvbc.ca that the man -- named in a Sri Lankan newspaper article as a fundraiser for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- is the first of the 492 migrants to be detained on security grounds.
The government considers the LTTE to be a terrorist group. Canadian Border Services Agency officials will now have to prove that they have reasonable suspicion that the detained man is a member of the Tamil Tigers if they want to extend the detention.
The man's lawyer has said that he is not connected to the LTTE.
The order for detention came on the first day of a new round of detention reviews for the migrants. So far, all of the refugee claimants have been ordered to remain in detention so that their identities can be confirmed.
Anderson said that as the migrants present more evidence of their identities, it is likely that government lawyers will begin arguing for more detentions on security grounds.
"I wouldn't be surprised as identity is established that they switch to these grounds," she said.
The government has expressed concerns in the past that the passengers on the MV Sun Sea include criminals and terrorists.
Anderson pointed out that when another Sri Lankan migrant ship, the MV Ocean Lady, arrived in B.C. last fall, all 75 men onboard were ordered to remain in detention for security reasons, as well.
"They all got released in the end anyway," she said.
