Refugees don't shop around for the laxest immigration laws!

I have a lofty perception of seeking refuge from persecution by one's own country. In my mind, a refugee takes the shortest route to a safe port and then tries to move on through legal means to greener pastures.

The Tamils who arrived by boat to BC are not refugees. They passed by numerous safe harbours on their way across the Indian and Pacific oceans. India's Tamil Nadu state is the first obvious choice, as India's governing parties don't want to jeopardise their electoral chances in such a key constituency by deporting the electors' ethnic compatriots.

Then there's the Maldives, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Papua, a sleuth of Polynesian and Micronesian countries, and so on.

The current government of Sri Lanka is dodgy at best, and I wouldn't trust these refugees being sent back to where they came from. But Canada should set an example and reach an agreement with some country closer to SR to take these refugees in. Tamil Tigers or not, none of them should be allowed to set foot in Canada.