Poll says only 17 per cent agree that Tamils are political refugees
Six in 10 Canadians say the recent boat of Tamil migrants should have been “escorted back to Sri Lanka by the Canadian Navy,” according to a poll by QMI Agency, taken from August 2-4. Only 17 per cent agreed they should be “accepted into Canada as political refugees.” However, 24 per cent were unsure or did not want to answer the question. Albertans were, by far, the most likely to agree that the boat should be sent back, at 74 per cent. The Canadian Tamil Congress said it believes the poll results reflect general feelings toward the immigration system, rather than opposition to the Tamils themselves. “People may be reacting to certain words such as queue-jumpers and human smugglers,” spokesperson Manjula Selvarajah told Sun Media. “If people understood the immigration and refugee system and the process in place, they may have a bit more faith in the system.” Initial hearings for the 490 migrants on board the MV Sun Sea have mostly wrapped up and the migrants are being housed in BC jails until their refugee hearings take place.