Canada’s most prominent Tamil organization is concerned about the safety of some families in Sri Lanka after sensitive information about their boat-migrant relatives was stolen from the group’s Toronto offices.
A computer containing the names, birth certificates and contact information of “hundreds” of the 492 Tamils who arrived in British Columbia last month aboard the MV Sun Sea was stolen during a break-in at the headquarters of the Canadian Tamil Congress.
“Our immediate concern is about the families back home in Sri Lanka,” said David Poopalapillai, national spokesman for the CTC. “We are quite worried.”
The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada has placed a publication ban on the names of the migrants, in part to protect their Sri Lankan relatives from possible reprisal. But the CTC has most of their names on file because the group has been working to connect the ship’s passengers with family back home.
“Our concern has always been that if the names of these people fall into the hands of the Sri Lankan government that their families could be persecuted or punished,” said Katpana Nagendra, the B.C. representative for the transnational government of Tamil Eelam, an organization of elected expatriates campaigning for an independent Tamil homeland in northeastern Sri Lanka.
Mr. Poopalapillai suspects the burglar or burglars were after the MV Sun Sea data because expensive equipment, including an Apple laptop and an LCD computer screen, were left behind.
Toronto police confirmed Sunday that they are investigating the break-in. No arrests have been made.
Thieves broke down the wooden door to the office in the north-eastern part of Toronto, some time after the last volunteer locked up at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Another volunteer who arrived around 9 a.m. Sunday found the door ajar and the office ransacked, with a couple of computers overturned on the floor. “Somebody had tried to take the computers’ hard drives,” Mr. Poopalapillai said. The only thing missing was a single desktop computer from the reception area containing the MV Sun Sea information.
“That’s the weird thing,” Mr. Poopalapillai added. “Had they come for monetary purposes they would have taken all these things.”
Canadian authorities boarded the MV Sun Sea Aug. 12 as it approached the coast of British Columbia. The adult passengers have all been held until their identities can be confirmed.
Last week, immigration officials ordered one male passenger detained because of his suspected connection to the Tamil Tigers, the first indication of a link between the vessel and the banned terrorist organization.
Officials also said they discovered destroyed and unclaimed identity documents on the MV Sun Sea, evidence, they say, the refugee claimants might be trying to conceal their identities.
Ottawa has promised new legislation to crack down on human smuggling amid concerns more such vessels are headed for Canadian shores.
The CTC is a non-profit organization that speaks on behalf of Canadian Tamils. It has 11 offices across the country. When the MV Sun Sea arrived last month, the CTC sent interpreters, lawyers, doctors and volunteers to assist the refugee claimants.
