Federal Court upholds deportation of Tamil Tigers fundraiser who has fought to stay in Canada for 22 years
Posted on January 19th, 2017
Stewart Bell | January 16, 2017 5:22 PM ET Courtesy National Post
The Federal Court upheld the deportation of Manickavasagam Suresh on the grounds he was a member of a terrorist organization and that he was complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The evidence adequately supported” the Immigration and Refugee Board’s finding that Suresh was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, Justice Richard Mosley wrote in his ruling.
Simon Hayter for National PostManickavasagam Suresh in 2005.
The judge also found reasonable the IRB’s finding that Suresh was a dedicated supporter who voluntarily worked on behalf of the LTTE and willingly followed the direction of the organization’s leadership.”
The Tigers were separatist guerrillas who fought for independence for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority. In addition to fighting a ground war, they conducted numerous political assassinations and bombings.
In 1990, Suresh was allegedly sent to Toronto by the LTTE to help run the group’s front organization, the World Tamil Movement, serving as its co-ordinator. But he was arrested in 1995 as a security risk.
Initially, Canadian authorities tried to deport him under a security certificate, which was upheld by the Federal Court. He fought the case to the Supreme Court, which ruled he could face torture if returned to his home country.
But the government continued to quietly push for his removal and in 2008, immigration officials drafted a report alleging he was inadmissible to Canada due to his membership in the WTM and his complicity in war crimes.
Following a hearing, the IRB ordered his deportation in 2015. The 40-page decision dismissing his appeal of that ruling was handed down on Jan. 10 but as of Monday had not yet been posted on the Federal Court website.
The Tamil Tigers ran a lucrative fundraising operation in Toronto and Montreal until the WTM’s offices were raided by the RCMP in 2006. Among other things, the searches turned up appeals for money to buy weapons.
The WTM was placed on Canada’s list of outlawed terrorist groups in 2008. In 2009, the Tamil rebels were defeated by Sri Lankan government forces, which have themselves been accused of committing war crimes during the lengthy conflict.
National Post
January 19th, 2017 at 2:06 pm
I hope this guy will not be deported to Sri Lanka!
I fondly ask, why do we need yet another terrorist in Sri Lanka?
Clearly, he is a citizen of the TAMIL EELAM of Canada!
If such an entity is not yet revognized in Canada, it should be created forthwith in a National Penitentiary locsted in that holy of holies the Scarborough precinct of Toronto, and this man should be SPEEDILY DEPORTED for LIFE to that entity, hereafter to be called the TAMIL EELAM of Canada.
If this brilliantly creative solution is not acceptable to Canada, he should be deported to Tamil Nadu, India where he will be more comfortable with his welcoming brethren than in Sri Lanka currently populated by Yakshas, Rakshas and Nagas, and where there is NO TAMIL EELAM, and NEVER will be!