Take the Power Back: Let the Tamils stay
Tamil refugees continue fleeing war-torn
Sri Lanka after the government bombarded
and invaded their lands and massacred thousands
of civilians in the process of “wiping
out” the Tamil Liberation Tigers last year.
The war might now be over, but Tamils are
still dying as they try to escape on overcrowded
ships leaving the island. Although
several ships have sunk, taking countless
lives with them, a ship carrying nearly 500
refugees made it to Canada after an incredibly
risky three-month journey through dangerous
waters. But this boat was not welcomed.
Instead Canada's reaction was to storm the
boat with the army and the RCMP, separate
children from their families, and imprison
everyone.
The Canadian media and large segments of Canadian society applauded this action while demonizing and slandering these migrants, labeling them everything from terrorists and con artists, to human traffickers and boat people. The press has also given a platform and mainstream legitimacy to Canada's most notorious white supremacists lately, giving positive coverage to their anti-immigrant rallies, and allowing them to spout their vile racist ideas about immigration to the public. The general Canadian public, almost all of them immigrants or descendants of immigrants themselves, are now calling for the Tamil refugees to be turned around and sent back towards violence, incarceration, and extreme oppression.
There is no other word but racist to describe this idea and those who believe in it. What would have been the reaction if the MV Sun Sea were carrying European refugees fleeing a war or natural disaster? Europeans once came here on boats, many of them fleeing oppression and looking for a better life, others looking for resources to exploit and lands to conquer for their expanding empires. They were the original “illegal immigrants.” They didn't ask permission from the native peoples; they just came, colonized territory, and built a racist colonial system that continues to this day.
The Canadian government has a long history of harassing and violating the rights of migrants fleeing oppression. In 1914, 354 people arrived in Canada from British-occupied India on board the Komagata Maru. Forced to stay off the coast, the ship was turned back four months later. Many died en route and more died when they arrived back in India. In 1939, the SS St. Louis arrived in Canada carrying 739 Jewish refugees fleeing fascist societies and Nazis. The Canadian government forced the ship to return to Europe, where many were killed in concentration camps. In 1999, three ships arrived in Canada with 600 people from the Fujian province in China. They were detained for nearly a year and in the end only 15 were granted status. The rest were deported. Upon their return, they were forced into labour camps.
While refugees and people without status are increasingly criminalized, incarcerated and deported, the Canadian state is expanding temporary worker programs and the amount of highly exploitable temporary migrant laborers that get shipped here to pick our food and be our caregivers. These workers get no rights, no status, and no benefits in exchange for their contribution to society. They come here to work and then must leave when told.
If anybody should have a say as to whether or not Tamil refugees should be welcomed or turned around, it is indigenous peoples. I would understand if some native peoples had an issue with yet another boat of settlers arriving in their lands, but white people need to shut up about the so-called immigration problem; they started it.
Nobody is illegal, we are all migrants, let the Tamils stay.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
The Canadian media and large segments of Canadian society applauded this action while demonizing and slandering these migrants, labeling them everything from terrorists and con artists, to human traffickers and boat people. The press has also given a platform and mainstream legitimacy to Canada's most notorious white supremacists lately, giving positive coverage to their anti-immigrant rallies, and allowing them to spout their vile racist ideas about immigration to the public. The general Canadian public, almost all of them immigrants or descendants of immigrants themselves, are now calling for the Tamil refugees to be turned around and sent back towards violence, incarceration, and extreme oppression.
There is no other word but racist to describe this idea and those who believe in it. What would have been the reaction if the MV Sun Sea were carrying European refugees fleeing a war or natural disaster? Europeans once came here on boats, many of them fleeing oppression and looking for a better life, others looking for resources to exploit and lands to conquer for their expanding empires. They were the original “illegal immigrants.” They didn't ask permission from the native peoples; they just came, colonized territory, and built a racist colonial system that continues to this day.
The Canadian government has a long history of harassing and violating the rights of migrants fleeing oppression. In 1914, 354 people arrived in Canada from British-occupied India on board the Komagata Maru. Forced to stay off the coast, the ship was turned back four months later. Many died en route and more died when they arrived back in India. In 1939, the SS St. Louis arrived in Canada carrying 739 Jewish refugees fleeing fascist societies and Nazis. The Canadian government forced the ship to return to Europe, where many were killed in concentration camps. In 1999, three ships arrived in Canada with 600 people from the Fujian province in China. They were detained for nearly a year and in the end only 15 were granted status. The rest were deported. Upon their return, they were forced into labour camps.
While refugees and people without status are increasingly criminalized, incarcerated and deported, the Canadian state is expanding temporary worker programs and the amount of highly exploitable temporary migrant laborers that get shipped here to pick our food and be our caregivers. These workers get no rights, no status, and no benefits in exchange for their contribution to society. They come here to work and then must leave when told.
If anybody should have a say as to whether or not Tamil refugees should be welcomed or turned around, it is indigenous peoples. I would understand if some native peoples had an issue with yet another boat of settlers arriving in their lands, but white people need to shut up about the so-called immigration problem; they started it.
Nobody is illegal, we are all migrants, let the Tamils stay.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
