Tag: Canada

Ship brought Sri Lankan refugees to Canada Four Sri Lankan nationals have been arrested in Toronto in connection with a human-smuggling operation involving the freighter Ocean Lady, which brought 76 Sri Lankan refugee claimants to B.C. in 2009.The men are the first to face charges after Canadian security officials seized the freighter off the coast of British Columbia on Oct. 17, 2009.The four are alleged to have been involved with organizing the overall venture and of being active leaders on the vessel. They have been charged via direct indictment under human-smuggling legislation, specifically for the offence of organizing entry into Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.Vignarajah Thevarajah, 33, Francis Anthonimuthu Appulonappa, 33, Hamalraj Handasamy, 39, and Jeyachandran Kanagarajah, 32, have been remanded in custody as the investigation continues. At a later date they will be transported back to Vancouver to appear before a judge.The men were living in the Toronto-area, when arrested.Police said they had an opportunity to interview a number of the people onboard which helped them in making the arrests."We had an opportunity to interview a number of potential witnesses and suspects in this investigation and the evidence that we gleaned from those interviews, it was ...