Legitimate Refugees: Human Smugglers

Canadian Council For Refugees Dept: They say the federal government already has all the legislative leeway needed to keep asylum seekers in detention until they are satisfied they qualify as legitimate refugees, and that any plan to crack down on human smugglers should not end up punishing legitimate refugees, according to Vancouver Sun. "I'm not any fan of human smugglers, but if they are so nasty, why is it that we're locking up the victims?" asked Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees and lengthening the time some refugee claimants spend in detention after arriving in Canada will deter neither future asylum seekers nor the smugglers they pay to organize their passage, immigration lawyers and asylum specialists say. They were reacting to reports the Harper government is considering legislating longer detention times for refugee claimants who arrive in large numbers at the same time, as has happened twice in the last year when boats -- carrying a total of 568 Sri Lankan Tamils -- arrived in B.C. As reported in the news.
@t sri lankan tamils, refugee claimants