Human smuggling op busted
In a human smuggling operation gone sour, around 200 Sri Lankan
refugee claimants hoping to come to Canada are stranded in West Africa.
The BBC is reported that 200 Sri Lankans left their country and
travelled through India and Ethiopia before a smuggler abandoned them in
Togo instead of taking them on to Ghana and then Canada.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews says he’s aware of the
reports but could not confirm them.
"I'm not going to get into any operation details but I can assure you
that our agencies work closely with governments around the world in
order to stop criminal activities with respect to human smuggling," he
said.
There are reports that Canadian and United Nations officials have
told the refugee claimants they'd be better off being deported to Sri
Lanka than being held in an open stadium in Lome, the capital of Togo.
Toews used the reports to highlight the Conservative government's
legislation to combat human smuggling, currently at second reading in
the House of Commons. Toronto Sun
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