VANCOUVER – Two Tamil men accused of helping to bring a boat load of Tamil migrants from war-torn Sri Lanka to Canada made a brief appearance in a Vancouver court.
Lesly Jana Emmanuel and Kunarobinson Christhurajah (kuna-robinson chris-th-raj-ah) each face a charge of helping a boatload of Tamil migrants make it to British Columbia’s shores almost two years ago.
The men’s appearance lasted only minutes while the judge set a June 5 court date for a bail hearing.
A third man arrested in France faces the same charge, and Ottawa is working on extraditing him back to Canada to stand trial.
There were 492 people aboard the boat when it landed near Victoria in August 2010 and so far just six of the migrants have been accepted as refugees.
The court indictment against the pair says they planned their crimes between August 2009 and August 2010 in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand. The charges against them have not been proven.
Six men from the ship remain in detention almost two years after they landed, while 19 passengers have been issued deportation orders and six people have been accepted as refugees.
Following the arrival of the two migrant ships, the Canadian government introduced a controversial new refugee bill. Advocacy groups said the bill would punish legitimate refugees, as opposed to those who organized their dangerous voyages.
The bill would have seen people who arrived on ships designated as “mass arrivals” and detained for one year without a review. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said last week, however, that a review will be held at the 14-day mark, and again six months later.
The legislation will also be changed so refugees aren’t punished for visiting their home countries once the situation there improves.
