[antiwar-van] MAWO Statement on Tamil Refugees Case

[Kira Koshelanyk]

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Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO)

www.mawovancouver.org
| info at mawovancouver.org 

 

MAWO Statement on Recent Arrival of Tamil Refugees

August 16, 2010

 

On August 14, 2010, 490 Tamil refugees from Sri 
Lanka
arrived in BC’s waters aboard the MV Sun Sea. These refugees are fleeing
 war
torn Sri Lanka, where in 2009 the government of Sri Lanka launched a war
against the Tamil people who were fighting for their self-determination.
 These
490 Tamil refugees are part of hundreds of thousands of Tamils who were
persecuted and detained by the government of Sri Lanka. Upon their 
arrival,
they were met by Canadian military, RCMP and Canada Border Services 
Agency personnel
and taken to jails while they await their immigration hearings. 
“Families are
now being separated, with many children being taken by the Ministry of 
Child
and Family Development. The refugees now face the threat of 
incarceration and
eventual deportation,” according to a statement by No One is Illegal in
Vancouver.

 

The government of Canada has made it clear that the
 doors
will be closed to these Tamil refugees. Before the MV Sun Sea had even 
neared
BC’s coast, the Canadian and BC governments had already begun a negative
 and
deceptive campaign against the refugees, labeling the asylum seekers as
‘terrorists’ and ‘human traffickers’. On Thursday August 12th, Minister 
of
Public Safety Vic Toews said, “Human smugglers and human traffickers are
 now
watching Canada’s response to judge whether or not they can continue to 
take
advantage of us… We will send a message loud and clear to other 
criminals: ‘if
you do this, then you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the 
law.’” 

 

This statement and other similar statements by the
government of Canada and BC are part of the racist fear mongering 
against the
Tamil people. We must not let this negative and deceptive campaign 
divide poor
and working people, or isolate the Tamil community – this is not just a 
Tamil issue,
but one of human rights and dignity, that all peace loving people must 
unite
around. In this crucial time of attacks against refugees in general and 
Tamil
refugees in particular, unity is essential. 

 

The refugee and immigration problem today is 
created by
imperialist countries like Canada on two fundamental basis. Firstly, the
 effect
and impact of colonial and imperialist policies on third world 
countries, such
as the destruction of their economy and domestic agriculture, and crisis
 of
market dysfuctionality, as well as the creation of political crises in 
these
countries, has created hundreds of millions of refugees and immigrants 
around
the world. Secondly, the racist and inhuman immigration policies of 
imperialist
countries have brought this immigration and refugee problem to its state
 of
tragic crisis for immigrants and refugees. Tamil people are suffering 
from
imperialist exploitation, as well as being victims of the Sri Lankan
government’s war against them – a war which was the result of divisions 
imposed
by the legacy of colonialism in Sri Lanka, and supported by imperialist
countries, like Canada, the US and Britain who declared The Liberation 
Tigers
of Tamil Eelam to be a terrorist organization. We as human and peace 
loving
people must support the Tamil people’s human and democratic rights to
self-determination. People in Canada and the US must demand that the 
doors be
opened unconditionally to all Tamil refugees. 


 

Join Mobilization Against War & Occupation 
(MAWO) in
supporting No One is Illegal’s National Day of Action in support of the 
Tamil
refugees, by attending as well as promoting these actions. MAWO will 
actively
promote the actions though announcements to our lists of thousands of 
our
supporters, and by distribution of posters and leaflets. For further
information go to:

www.nooneisillegal.org

 

Stop Jailing and Deporting Refugees!

Let the Tamil Refugees Stay!

Grant the Tamil Refugees Asylum Immediately and Unconditionally!

End the Racist Immigration and Refugee Policies!