This Toronto Sun article about Tamils doesn’t really surprise me a whole lot. According to the article, a government survey has found that the majority of successful Tamil refugee claimants return to Sri Lanka after receiving their papers.

To become accepted for political asylum in Canada, a person must prove that the country they are fleeing from poses a significant or likely risk of torture, persecution, or even death. According to Martin Collacott, former High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, 76 per cent of Tamil refugee claimants are accepted in Canada, or about 38 times as likely than the same applicant in Great Britain.

Yet over 70 per cent of successful Tamil refugee claimants surveyed by the government have returned to Sri Lanka for “vacation”, to do business, or to arrange for the sponsorship of other family members.

But as the article cites, it’s fairly common knowledge that asylum seekers return to their countries after they receive Canadian documentation. It certainly should come as no surprise that the Tamils do what every other ethnic group does as well.

The key is to get Canadian documentation granting them permanent residency, or even Canadian citizenship, which provides them with a world of protection they would not otherwise have if they returned before then. Canadians who run afoul of laws in foreign countries are entitled to consular services, while permanent residents can always flee back to Canada if they feel threatened.

That’s why it is important to remember that asylum seekers in Canada aren’t necessarily looking for a new place to live, but a place to fall back if things go awry in their own country. We saw this happen during the 2006 Lebanese-Israeli conflict. We saw it during the Haitian earthquake. It literally happens all the time.

One of my first climbing partners is an amicable fellow from Bogota, Colombia. He was a civil engineer in his country, but had received the odd threat from FARC, a notorious paramilitary organization that is prolific for kidnappings, bombings, and murders.

But when he arrived in Canada, it was mainly on a whim. He had originally gained a travel visa to the United States through his company, where he went for a rock climbing vacation. He eventually visited Buffalo, where he met a fellow Colombian girl, and they decided to cross the border together into Canada.

This was before the enactment of the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, which seeks to limit the number of refugees flowing across both sides of the border to make a claim. Logically speaking, my friend could have sought asylum right there in the United States, where he was already safe from “persecution, torture, or death.”

But he didn’t. He and his new girlfriend moved to Toronto and applied for asylum in Canada. After a two year wait, they were granted permanent residency. I remember this quite well because this coincided with another Colombian I knew who had been waiting for four years, when his claim was rejected. This latter individual was, in my mind, a much more suitable candidate for asylum, since he spoke English flawlessly, had a good job, and was already well integrated into Canada.

Shortly after receiving his papers, my Colombian climbing partner left for his home country for a 2-month visit and a climbing trip. For him Canada was certainly a safer country, but it was by no means his salvation. There’s no question that his life was not in immediate peril. It was more a question of how likely it would be that he could be kidnapped or murdered by FARC. And the answer to that is probably the same for every resident who lives in Colombia who faces that possibility.

Not long after my friend won his bid to stay in Canada, but after he had returned from his Colombian vacation, he moved out to British Columbia where he would find a better selection of rock climbing to suit his interests. This, he had told me in 2002 before his claim was accepted, had been his ultimate goal. While being free from a peripheral threat of violence was a bonus, his real reason for being in Canada was for rock climbing.

It is even less surprising that Tamils would return to Sri Lanka after being granted asylum, since they didn’t move to Canada to find a better selection of rock climbs. They came here for a safe haven to fall back on while they continue to be active in the pursuit of a Tamil homeland.