Tamils-Tamil Tigers-PM-Karygiannis, Immigration and Refugees-Sgro, Tsunami-Diplomats-Minister

Rebels recruit tsunami kids -- Paul Martin avoided Tamil Tiger area in Sri Lanka; Karygiannis went in his stead -- Tamils are a large voting bloc

Rebels recruit tsunami kids -- Paul Martin avoided Tamil Tiger area in Sri Lanka January 14, 2005, AP

SRI LANKA'S Tamil Tiger rebels recruited three tsunami-affected girls to their ranks but later released two of them, UNICEF officials said yesterday in Colombo. The girls, ages 11 and 12, were reunited with their parents, and UNICEF was working to secure the release of the third, who is 15 years old, agency spokesman Geoffrey Keel said.

The three were from eastern Batticaloa and Ampara, among the areas that were worst hit by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

The rebels are known to recruit children to bolster their ranks in their fight for a separate Tamil homeland.

[. . . . ] Children accounted for a staggering 40%, or 12,000, of Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll of nearly 31,000. Another 800,000 people have been left homeless.

Tamil Tigers -- Don't play with Tigers

Don't play with Tigers National Post, January 14, 2005

[. . . . ] Mr. Karygiannis showed up at a Toronto party celebrating the Tamil Tigers' recent campaigns and proudly hoisted the Canadian flag alongside the Tigers' flag. So as he tours northern Sri Lanka meeting with leaders of the Tigers' political wing, Canadians have ample reason to be concerned.

Representing the riding of Scarborough-Agincourt, Mr. Karygiannis likely has more Tamils in his constituency than any other Canadian MP [. . . . ]

While they do not tend to get as much ink as Hamas, al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, and while their fundraising efforts within Canada have inexplicably not been outlawed, the Tamil Tigers are responsible for a staggering amount of carnage. The world's most prolific suicide bombers, they have exacted a death toll of more than 60,000 over the past two decades. Known for targeting civilians, the Tamil Tigers routinely stage attacks on villages in which they ruthlessly slay women and children. [. . . . ]

MP: Bring kids home -- "home"? A Tamil Tiger/Tamil vote getter

MP: Bring kids home January 14, 2005, Tom Godfrey, Toronto Sun

DOZENS OF orphans -- including many young girls -- are homeless and in dire straits in Sri Lanka and should be given protection in Canada, says a Liberal MP on the ground there. Jim Karygiannis said from Jaffna a priority is to reunite sisters Dushishi, 16, and Prashalini, 13, with their Scarborough mom Shantha Baheswaran, 40, who is sponsoring them to Canada.

[. . . . ] Baheswaran arrived in Canada four years ago as a refugee claimant. She is now a landed immigrant and holds two jobs to save money to bring her teens here.

[. . . . ] Karygiannis said he's been trying unsuccessfully to contact Canadian immigration officials about the case. He plans to take the teens to the Canadian high commission in Colombo for their visas.

Shantha Baheswaran left her daughters to their fate in Sri Lanka, but saved herself by claiming "refugee" status in Canada? Does this sound logical of a mother?

Aside from that, if the Tamils have the largest terrorist organization in Canada and it has been named a terrorist organization and outlawed in the US, what group in Canada will influence the direction in which these kids are indoctrinated? Already the Tamil community in Canada is forced to donate to the Tigers out of fear. Who wants to bring in and bring up these children?

Mass movements of people out of emotion and with too little consideration of the consequences are not wise.

Nor is the idea of bringing to Canada a large number of Muslims from Indonesia -- from an area where passions are high and Islamists are successfully recruiting. Until the Muslims in Canada act to disown the extremist Muslims and to modernize Islam and the position of women in their community, I think it would be prudent to slow down or stop all Muslim immigration. There are a few questions Muslims should answer about the Koran and jihad before Canada is exposed to more extremism. I have linked to the questions from this site previously. Where do they stand on church/mosque and state separation, particularly as to violence in the service of Allah and the question of loyalty--to Allah/Islam or to Canada.




Immigration Minister Judy Sgro has quit -- intending to clear her name over the allegations

Immigration minister to quit: report -- Update: has quit
Jan. 14, 05, CBC

TORONTO - [. . . . ] over allegations that she promised to help a pizza shop owner avoid deportation in return for help on her re-election campaign last spring.

The Toronto Star says Sgro decided to step down after the newspaper obtained a copy of an affidavit from Harjit Singh, who owns a pizza shop in Brampton, Ont.

The Star quotes "federal sources" as saying Sgro denies Singh's allegations but will leave her job while she seeks to have her name cleared.

In the sworn affidavit, which was filed in Federal Court Thursday, Singh says Sgro pressed him for free pizza and garlic bread and asked him to supply "15 or 16" volunteers for her campaign office. [. . . . ]

Read the details in Jan. 15, 05, National Post on how Sikh Harjit Singh managed to stay here for years. A typical departmental tale -- from an identifiable voting bloc.



Ottawa orders Hungarian heroine to leave -- Revealed herself to police: Lawyer says client can stay to testify in sex predator case

Perhaps she could scream "racism" or "hardship because she is an illegal" and get some politically identifiable ethnic voting bloc to back her? Would it work for a white European? It's rather like being a red-blooded male today; they can be attacked or discounted with impunity. Just don't step on one of the government-courted ethnic voting blocs.

Ottawa orders Hungarian heroine to leave Siri Agrell, National Post, January 14, 2005

[. . . . ] "We are exploring all options," he said yesterday. "The young lady has no fear, at this stage at least, of being removed from Canada. She is needed as a witness in this criminal trial. She has a number of options and I think ultimately we would hope she would have a happy ending."

Ms. Gal came to Toronto four years ago to visit friends and lived in the country illegally for four years before she came to the attention of immigration officials after calling police to report an attack. [. . . . ]

Vacationing in the face of disaster

Vacationing in the face of disaster Greg Weston, Sun Ottawa Bureau, January 13, 2005

On a scale of political disasters, Paul Martin and his ministers managed to turn this one into a good 9.0, if only by their absence.

Much of the credit for this achievement must go to Aileen Carroll, the minister for International Co-operation responsible for Canadian foreign aid.

At the moment the massive earthquake turned the Indian Ocean into a sea of carnage, Carroll was at home in Barrie, less than an hour north of Toronto.

That was Christmas night.

According to published reports of the minister's best recollections, the first she heard of the disaster was a call from her Ottawa office the next day, Dec. 26.

Late that night, a full 24 hours after the tsunamis had begun their watery massacre, Canada's minister of foreign aid drove to the Toronto airport, got on a plane and flew off on vacation to South America. [. . . . ]

Diplomats in Thailand unhelpful, man says -- Canadian officials lax in search for missing, Vancouver teacher complains

Diplomats in Thailand unhelpful, man says -- Canadian officials lax in search for missing, Vancouver teacher complains Geoffrey York, Jan. 10, 05

PHUKET, THAILAND -- From the earliest days of his search for his missing girlfriend, Michael Lang says he has been getting a clear message from Canadian diplomats in Thailand: Give up his efforts, go home and accept that her remains will be unidentifiable.

He rejected the advice, but his experiences over the past two weeks convinced him that the federal government failed to search properly for the Canadian victims of the tsunamis disaster.

Mr. Lang, a 28-year-old teacher from Vancouver, is in a good position to judge the effort. He is one of the few Canadians who witnessed the tsunamis and their aftermath from the first moment. The experiences leave him embittered and angry at Ottawa and its representatives.

There are nearly 150 Canadians still missing in Thailand. Yet officials have been oddly passive and willing to allow Thailand to handle most aspects of the search, Mr. Lang said.

"They only wanted to put me on a plane and get me out of the country," he said in an interview yesterday. "They've located very few of the missing people. There's no sign of them aggressively searching. They did nothing with all of the information I gave them, which is shocking."[. . . . ]