Tamil group to fight blacklisting by Canada

The Tamil Tigers, a rebel group fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka, has been added to Canada's official list of terrorist organizations.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were included on the list kept by the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness effective on Friday, according to a statement released Monday by Minister Stockwell Day.

"The decision to list the LTTE is long overdue and something the previous government did not take seriously enough to act upon," said Day.

 

The United Nations already lists the group as a terrorist organization and Canada is a signatory to the resolution that made that designation.

The Tigers have been fighting for an independent Tamil state on the island of Sri Lanka since the 1980s. More than 60,000 people have died in their struggle with the Sinhalese government.

The LTTE has used suicide bombers and child soldiers in the conflict, leading Western countries, including the United States and Britain, to label them as terrorists.

Many in Canada's Tamil community are angry with Ottawa's move to label one of its organizations a terrorist group.

Stockwell Day, the minister of public safety, says the World Tamil Movement, which collected money that ended up in the hands of the Tamil Tigers, is now on a list of terrorist groups.

The group, which also had its assets frozen, is designated for helping terrorist activity and for acting on behalf of the terrorist group.

David Poopalapillai from the Canadian Tamil Congress, which is not affiliated with WTM, says the the government was punishing an entire organization instead of a few individuals.

He says if someone in the WTM broke the law they should be punished, but not the entire organization.

The organization has been known for canvassing Tamil populations demanding donations, sometimes by using aggressive intimidation tactics to get the money.