Tamil Migrant Ship Cost Ottawa $25 Million

Intercepting and processing the passengers aboard the MV Sun Sea last summer incurred taxpayers significant costs.

The Sun Sea arrived in B.C. last August carrying 492 passengers claiming to be refugees from the Tamil region of Sri Lanka. According to a budget estimate released by Ottawa, the operation of apprehending the ship and processing the migrants’ refugee claims cost the Canadian Border Services Agency $22 million, the Immigration and Refugee Board $908,000, and the RCMP $2.1 million. The so-called “mass arrival” of refugee claimants prompted promises from the Conservative government to overhaul Canada’s refugee policy to deter migrants from entering the country aboard what some say are ships run by human smuggling operations. The government is concerned that members of the outlawed Tamil Tiger militant group are among the refugee claimants, whose cases are still being processed.