Douglas Quan, Postmedia News · Thursday, Dec. 23, 2010
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The Harper government calls the shadowy individuals who helped smuggle 492 Tamil migrants to Canada aboard a cargo ship this summer "criminals" and "ruthless profiteers."
But one of the migrants who took that perilous three-month voyage with her two children considers them "saviours."
"I'm not scared for my life or my [children's] lives," the mother said through a translator, in a rare interview. "I've got peace of mind."
The mother was released from detention a month ago but still faces an uncertain future in Canada. She agreed to talk to Postmedia News on the condition that her name not be revealed because of her pending refugee claim and because of concerns for her family in Sri Lanka.
Sporting blue jeans, a black pullover and sparkly earrings, the Tamil mother said that life back home was like "walking on pins" everyday.
Farmland once owned by her family was snatched away by the government because it was too close to an army camp, she said.
Refugee advocacy groups have said that even though a civil war ended last year between the independence-seeking Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government, persecution of the Tamil minority continues.
The mother packed four sets of clothes for each of her children and three sets for herself. They flew to Thailand and waited for six months before boarding the Sun Sea.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has said that passengers paid about $40,000; the mother said her family got a good deal.
The journey was crammed and "tense," she said. They got by on rice and dried fish for lunch and porridge for dinner.
The men slept separately from the women and children. They shared one toilet.
The migrants rarely ventured outside for fear of being spotted by authorities. "I hardly saw the ocean for three months," she said.
The only time they did go outside was to collect rainwater.
Upon arrival, the mother was held in custody for three months because her identity had not been authenticated. She was freed in November, although her identity has still not been established.
She said she doesn't venture far from her Burnaby apartment, except to report to the Canada Border Services Agency once a week.
The government sends her $1,280 each month, which she said she uses to cover her $670 rent and to pay for house supplies and for food.
Her children have enrolled in school, though their sea voyage is not far from their minds.
They draw a lot of ships and when it rains they want to run outside to collect the rainwater, she said.
While identity verification has been the most common reason the government has sought to keep migrants detained.
At least a handful have been accused of committing war crimes or of having ties to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- or Tamil Tigers -- a group that was added to Canada's list of banned organizations in 2006.
During a detention hearing this week, a female migrant was ordered to remain in detention after it was alleged that a piece of jewellery linked her to the Tamil Tigers.
It was also alleged that her workplace received funding from the same group.
While the Tamil mother in Burnaby is "thrilled" to be out of detention, she said she was warned by federal staff that she could still be deported.
Immigration statistics, however, suggest she has a good chance of being allowed to stay. Typically, more than 80% or 90% of refugee claims from Sri Lanka are accepted.
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