Thai authorities have arrested 61 more Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka, police said Saturday (October 30), in the second such crackdown in recent weeks.
After a tip-off, 114 people were rounded up in the southern province of Songkhla on Thursday, but some were freed because they were able to present valid travel documents, the Bangkok Post reported.
“The 61 were arrested and charged for overstaying their visas, illegal entry or not going through proper channels,” said Colonel Phutthipong Musikkul, commander of Songkhla immigration police.
“It’s likely that these people wanted to go to a third country,” Phutthipong said, without elaborating.
Earlier this month Thai authorities said they were holding for possible deportation 128 Tamil migrants arrested in Bangkok, including some who had registered with the United Nations as asylum seekers.
Some reports suggested they hoped to travel to Canada, whose government welcomed news of their arrest.
Almost 500 Tamil refugees arrived in Canada in August aboard a cargo ship which reportedly spent 90 days traveling from Thailand before police boarded it in Canadian waters and piloted it ashore in western Canada, Bangkok Post said.Meanwhile on the backdrop of the arrest of Tamil migrants, Canada's conservative government is taking steps to stiffen that country's lax immigration laws to prevent smuggling those asylum seekers into its shores.
Canada's Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said they have to act soon to prevent the human smugglers targeting Canada to smuggle those illegal migrants.
"This underscores the fact that smuggling syndicates are very active in the transit countries, in Thailand in particular, and they continue to target Canada, which is why we have to act," Kenney was quoted Friday by Canadian media.
The Canadian Minister has said that his government is committed to amend the legislation to enact laws to deter migrants from using human smugglers to reach its shores by meting out harsher treatment once they arrive.
Canada has been the target lately of the human smugglers to bring the would-be asylum seekers due to lenient immigration laws.
In August this year, the Thai cargo ship MV Sun Sea, modified to carry human cargo, reached Vancouver with 492 Tamil asylum seekers on board. All migrants have claimed asylum status.
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