In October 2009, another vessel, the Ocean Lady, arrived in Victoria carrying 76 migrants from Sri Lanka. Most of those migrants are living in Toronto while their refugee claims being processed.
Analysts say the MV Sun Sea is the second test of Canada's immigration policies. It is reported that there are two more ships loaded with illegal immigrants being in their journey to Canada.
They said the only option to change the devastating trend is to change its immigration laws.
"If we don't do this, Canada could well become the next Australia," warned Martin Collacott, a former high commissioner to Sri Lanka.
"The Tamils know very well what's likely to happen when they get here. They study us quite carefully and they figure the odds are much better in Canada," Collacott said.
Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister had warned not to welcome future asylum seekers who dock Canada's shores like those from the MV Sun Sea.
The Sri Lankan government has called the Canadian authorities to turn away the ship.
Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Canada Chithrangani Wagishwara has requested the Canadian government not to grant Canadian citizenship to any asylum seeker on the MV Sun Sea.
Today, Canada is home to about 300,000 Tamils, the largest Tamil community outside Sri Lanka and India.
"I think the exchange of information and intelligence is the key," Wagishwara said, urging Canada to share more of its intelligence related to illegal migrants.
The letters by the passengers of the MV Sun Sea claimed they were fleeing mass murders, disappearances and extortion in Sri Lanka.
It stated "though the conflict has ended in Sri Lanka, innocent Tamil people detained in prison have not been released. Displaced civilians have not been resettled in their own homes. Instead, there are widespread occurrences of disappearances, mass murders and extortion."
The relatives of asylum seekers, who are in Canada, claimed they had paid 45,000 dollars each for the journey.
But Sri Lanka's counter terrorism experts wonder how an average person in Canada could pay this large amount of money unless it was paid through some organized channel.
Meanwhile, Canadian officials are discussing implementing laws and getting help from Asian nations to halt human smuggling.
