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Sri Lankan Tamils and Maran Nagarasa

Maran Nagarasa: But that feeling soon turned to fear as he and the 75 other Sri Lankan Tamils on board faced armed border guards and officers. On Oct. 17, 2009, they were arrested, jailed and interrogated. Eventually, most were released to await hearings before Canadas refugee board. , according to CBC. He spent 45 days at sea on the rusty ship, many of those rough and stormy. All aboard claimed they were fleeing persecution after witnessing atrocities during the 26-year-long Sri Lankan civil war. Each had paid the equivalent of about $40,000 to be taken to a safe country, in this case, Canada. Journalist Maran Nagarasa spent 45 days at sea in 2009 on the Ocean Lady, one of dozens aboard claiming they were fleeing persecution after witnessing atrocities during the 26-year-long Sri Lankan civil war. Twitter Journalist Maran Nagarasa still recalls vividly the sense of elation aboard the Ocean Lady five years ago this week when he saw a plane flying overhead with a Canadian flag. I was sure God had arrived to save us, he said. Nagarasa operated his own news agency in Sri Lanka and had worked for the BBC. Sri Lankan officials didnt like his stories and he refused to run government propaganda. He faced death threats, and a trusted and respected colleague was killed. But it wasnt until the threats came against his wife and four-year-old daughter, that Nagarasa knew he had to flee. From 2011: Ocean Lady sparked U.S. fear of Tamil migrant tide (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.