MV Sun Sea migrants’ information stolen from Tamil group’s Toronto office

TORONTO - A Tamil organization in Canada is concerned about the safety of some families in Sri Lanka after sensitive information about their ‘MV Sun Sea’ boat-migrant relatives was stolen from the group’s Toronto office.

According to the Globe and Mail, a computer containing undisclosed information of 492 Tamils who arrived in British Columbia aboard the MV Sun Sea last month was stolen during a break-in at the headquarters of the Canadian Tamil Congress.

“Our immediate concern is about the families back home in Sri Lanka,” the newspaper quoted David Poopalapillai, CTC spokesman, said.

“We are quite worried,” he added.

Poopalapillai suspects that the culprits were after the data, as expensive equipments, including an Apple laptop and an LCD computer screen, have been left behind.

“Somebody had tried to take the computers’ hard drives. That’s the weird thing. Had they come for monetary purposes they would have taken all these things,” Poopalapillai said.

Toronto police confirmed that they were investigating the break-in.

Earlier, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada had placed a publication ban on the names of the migrants to protect their Sri Lankan relatives from possible reprisal. (ANI)