REFUGEE

COLOMBO — The leader of a boat of Sri Lankan asylum seekers held in Indonesia on their way to Australia is a known people smuggler previously deported from Canada, the government here said Friday.
Alex, who emerged as the spokesman for the 255 Sri Lankans whose boat was detained last month, is Kulaendrarajah Sanjeev, a 28-year-old who worked out of a base in India, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The man, who led an abortive hunger strike demanding that those on board be granted refugee status, was expelled from Canada in 2003, the statement said.
"Alex had been involved in human smuggling for a long time and it is believed that his office is based in India," the statement said.
"His brother who is now in Canada is also involved in human smuggling" and is being sought by Canadian police, the statement added.
The ministry did not give further details.
Alex, or Sanjeev, had told AFP in Indonesia that he acquired his north American accent while working at a call centre.
An ethnic Tamil, he had told reporters the asylum seekers were in danger in Sri Lanka in the wake of the government's defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this year, although he denies they were rebel separatists.
The Australian government has said another known smuggler, Abraham Lauhenaspessy, known as "Captain Bram", was found on the boat.