Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday (7) said his government would soon unveil a law to deter illegal migration in response to the arrival of rickety cargo ships carrying Tamil refugees.

Harper said current legislation does not go far enough to deter human smuggling, which “will increase in the years to come, unless we make significant changes to our law, to provide serious deterrents,” quoting the Prime Minister AFP reported.

He said his government would unveil amendments to the immigration act “designed to ensure (that) we deter this kind of behavior ... which for the vast majority of Canadians is completely unacceptable.”

Border officials detained 492 Tamils who arrived in August aboard the MV Sun Sea. Another 76 were arrested in October 2009 upon arrival on Canada’s west coast aboard another freighter.

Canadian authorities suspect the migrants may included members of the LTTE, a banned terrorist organization in Canada.

A third ship carrying Tamil asylum seekers is also reportedly en route for Canadian shores. Canadian authorities are trying to track it using satellites and high-tech eavesdropping equipment, the Toronto Sun reported.

The Canadian Prime Minister would only say that his government is “monitoring these developments very carefully.”

Earlier, authorities announced the arrest of nine people discovered hiding aboard a container ship, the MSC Lugano, when it arrived in Montreal from Morocco, AFP reported.

Meanwhile according to a report in Vancouver Sun, the MV Sun Sea was towed and berthed in Nanaimo Thursday.

On August 12, MV Sun Sea was intercepted and boarded off the west coast of Vancouver Island and escorted into CFB Esquimalt.

The ship had been docked in on the CFB Esquimalt in Colwood ever since. However, the base needs the space for Department of National Defence operations, said Bernee Bolton, spokeswoman for the federal Canadian Border Services Agency.

Border Services officials are not offering information about the vessel's future, saying only that it will remain on Vancouver Island while an investigation continues into its arrival.

"An investigation into the use of the vessel is ongoing at this time," Bolton said. "Once the investigation is concluded, CBSA will arrange for final disposition of the ship."