Canada’s public safety minister said he wouldn’t intervene in the removal proceedings of a Tamil migrant who arrived in Canada by sea 16 years ago, but acknowledged the dangers such people face upon return to Sri Lanka.
Gary Anandasangaree responded to a question from CTV News at an unrelated news conference, saying the courts are the best place to decide the fate of Kumar Thuraisinkam, a man who lives in Toronto and who was one of almost 500 people to arrive on Canada’s west coast in the M.V. Sun Sea back in 2010.
“Let me just say the matter is before the courts. I will leave it to the courts to decide,” Anandasangaree said on Tuesday.
“I have, in the past, advocated for those who particularly came on the M.V. Sun Sea not to return to Sri Lanka because we had one incident of an individual who was alleged to have been killed by the government several years ago. However, I do believe the courts, in Canada, will be the best place to adjudicate this matter,” he said.
Anandasangaree was referring to his time as a lawyer with the Canadian Tamil Congress, when, after the M.V. Sun Sea’s arrival, he did interviews about his advocacy for those aboard the vessel.
The M.V. Sun Sea came to B.C. Shores from Thailand carrying 492 people after the Tamil Tigers were defeated by the Sri Lankan army after more than two decades of conflict.
According to the Canadian Council for Refugees in a report from 2015, some 63 per cent of refugee claims by those on the M.V. Sun Sea were accepted, meaning that an arbitrator felt they were in need of protection in Canada.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are a listed terrorist group in Canada, and in 2025, Anandasangaree said he would recuse himself from any matters related to the group.
One man who was charged with organizing the ship, Sathyapavan Aseervatham, swore an affidavit that he was beaten and tortured upon his return to Sri Lanka. He died in a car crash about a year after the affidavit was signed, his lawyer said in 2013.
Thuraisinkam refers to that death in his arguments before the Federal Court to stay in Canada, said his lawyer, Kes Posgate.
Statements made by the Canadian government in the wake of the ship’s arrival, aggressively pursuing deportations, could also prejudice him upon return to that country, he said.
“There is a serious risk that he will be perceived, if he returns to Sri Lanka, to be affiliated with the Tamil Tigers,” Posgate said.
Thuraisinkam said that he fled Sri Lanka after years of violence and gunfire, and said he was viewed with suspicion by the victorious Sri Lankan army.
He said he went to Thailand and got on the M.V. Sun Sea, bound for Canada. Quickly he realized how dangerous the journey would be.
“There was no food. It was an old ship, and I didn’t expect it to be like this. It was very windy and I was scared,” Thuraisinkam told CTV News through a translator.
Thuraisinkam’s refugee claim was denied, but he was able to stay in Canada for a while with a work permit as a carpenter in Scarborough.
He said the stress of living in Canada without his wife and three children in Sri Lanka contributed to depression and alcohol use.
A more recent impaired driving conviction prompted the authorities to start removal proceedings against him.
The Canadian Border Services Agency refused a request to wait on Thuraisinkam’s removal, pointing to a lack of documentation that he is wanted or faces a threat.
Thuraisinkam said in the interview that he feels Canadian after being here for 16 years, and he is worried about his life should he return.
“I’m very scared if they send me back. I don’t know what will happen to me in Sri Lanka,” he said. (CP24/ CTV)