Trace explosives found on Tamils' ship, clothing, affidavits say

People who have their faces covered by umbrellas are led off the "Ocean Lady" by RCMP officers at Ogden Point in Victoria, B.C.

Canadian officials allege trace amounts of explosives were found in a cargo ship that carried 76 Tamil migrants to Canada's West Coast last month, defence attorneys for migrants say.

In affidavits filed last week, the Canadian Border Services Agency makes the allegations of the find in the Ocean Lady, and on the clothes of some of the men inside. Two defence lawyers characterize it as an attempt to secure the extended detention of the men while government officials investigate alleged ties to the Tamil Tigers.

Government officials were initially able to hold the 76 men in custody after they arrived on Oct. 17 because their identities hadn't been confirmed, defence lawyers say.

As some of the identities have begun to be confirmed, the CBSA will now rely on the allegation that the men were Tigers, considered by Canada as a terrorist organization.

“The affidavits make allegations that there are small amounts of explosives, some residue. The affidavits don't specify how much, and on whose clothes. Obviously I have concerns about these affidavits and their reliability," lawyer Lorne Waldman, representing one migrant, said in an interview.

“As people make it with hurdle number one [identification], they're now confronted with hurdle number two."

He said the information in the documents is “bare-minimum and very vague," and that defence attorneys for the men are seeking a more detailed explanation of the allegations.

Fellow defence lawyer Hadayt Nazami said the CBSA is also alleging that the Ocean Lady was once used as a gun-running ship for the Tigers.

“Well, if that's the case, if traces of explosives are found, it's hardly surprising. That shouldn't have any bearing on the claimants," Mr. Nazami said in an interview. “We have a lot of questions about this so-called evidence."

The Sri Lankan migrants arrived after a gruelling, lengthy voyage, in which they had only minimal supplies and skeleton facilities. They are said to have paid $45,000 each to a smuggler to come to Canada, only to be kept in the bottom of the Ocean Lady with little sense of time, other than the voyage seemed to last for weeks.

The men are claiming asylum as refugees, though Canada has signalled it intends to fight the claims. Despite pleas for compassion from Canada's large Tamil community, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said last month “we need to do a much better job of shutting the back door of immigration for those who seek to abuse that asylum system."

Mr. Waldman urged CBSA officials to specify its allegations.

“The vast majority of young Tamil males who come to Canada are genuine refugees," he argued.