(CNN) -- Almost 500 Sri Lankan migrants are in Canadian custody after officials Thursday boarded small ship suspected of human smuggling off the coast of British Columbia, according to Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.
Canadian officials had been monitoring the vessel, MV Sun Sea, after its departure from Sri Lanka nearly three months ago, according to Toews. The ship first stopped in Thailand before crossing the Pacific and moving up the west coast of North America, Toews said.
Toews indicated that officials believe the ship is "part of a larger human smuggling and human trafficking enterprise," and there are concerns "that there are elements of the LTTE and Tamil Tigers on board this vessel." The Tamil Tigers, also known as the Liberation Tigers of Eelam, are a militant separatist group who have been accused of war crimes and played a significant and controversial role in the Sri Lankan civil war.
Krisna Saravanamuttu, a spokesman for the National Council of Canadian Tamils, said similar fears were expressed in May when 76 Tamils arrived aboard the Ocean Lady. But, he said, no evidence has been uncovered to support those fears.
Saravanamuttu said the Sun Sea is believed to be carrying primarily Tamils, Sri Lanka's largest minority population. Tamils, he said, have been seeking asylum in Canada since the 1980s because of Sri Lanka's lengthy and bloody civil war. Now, he said, Canada's 300,000 Tamils is the largest grouping outside Sri Lanka. CNN
