Canada to screen suspected Sri Lankan asylum seekers

Dozens of people suspected to be Sri Lankans, who were aboard a mystery ship that was seized off Canada's West Coast and towed into Victoria over the weekend were loaded onto buses on Sunday and ferried to the Vancouver-area for further screening.
76 males were found when the RCMP boarded a vessel displaying the name ‘Ocean Lady’ on Friday near Port Renfrew and took control of the ship.
The Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP have revealed little else about the group, their origin or how they ended up on a ship sailing towards Canada.
The seizure has prompted speculation the case may involve human smuggling and potential refugee claims, possibly by Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka, but border agency officials confirmed none of that.
"The individuals have been transported to a corrections facility in Vancouver, where the CBSA will continue to examine their admissibility to Canada," Rob Johnston of the Canada Border Services Agency said in a brief statement Sunday.
"We are acting quickly to meet the immediate personal and health needs of these individuals and we are processing them in an efficient manner and in accordance with Canadian law." On Friday afternoon, a naval vessel approached the ‘Ocean Lady’ and armed RCMP officers boarded it and took control. Pictures of the ship released by the RCMP appear to show the would-be migrants wearing civilian clothes, some shirtless, and waving to a helicopter overhead.
A day earlier, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said there were preliminary indications the ship originated in Sri Lanka, though he stressed that information had not been confirmed.
David Poopalapillai of the Canadian Tamil Congress said the group he's seen in media reports appear to be Tamil.
"I looked at the faces, I looked at their dress, and it's a special dress that's like a Tamil version of pyjamas."
"When you consider the threat or the danger of the (Tamil) ethnic group in Sri Lanka, Tamils are the ones who would take this risk. They are facing a life-and-death situation," Poopalapillai said.
(Canadian Press)