Human smuggling charges pending interception of ship carrying illegal immigrants

A ship carrying approximately 76 illegal immigrants suspected to be from Sri Lanka has been seized off Canada’s Pacific coast. The ship was taken to Ogden Point, Victoria, B.C. and the migrants were taken by bus to a corrections facility in Vancouver where the CBSA will examine the admissibility of the passengers and their refugee claims. Another boat-load of Sri Lankan nationals was intercepted outside Indonesia en route to Australia last week.

This is the most notable instance of human smuggling by sea that Canada has experienced in recent years. A decade ago, in the summer of 1999, four ships smuggled close to 600 Chinese migrants to the West Coast.