Canadian immigration authorities add more names to most wanted list

The new issue of the list, which is the third released by Canadian immigration authority Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) hopes to recruit the help of the Canadian public in finding the names on the list.

The list, which on its original publication in July 2010 focussed on war crime suspects and violent crime suspects thought to be in Canada, now also contains the names of criminals who are alleged to have ties to organised crime syndicates, both in Canada and abroad.

The list has proved controversial and several human rights advocacy groups have criticised the Canadian government, claiming it is shirking its duties by deporting them rather than convicting the criminals themselves.

Furthermore, the Canadian Press obtained internal communications from within the border agency which warned that adding more names to a list of mainly war criminals could put deportees in danger in their home countries.

However, Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has defended the list and claimed that the government has done its due diligence in all cases before any individual is deported.

"In virtually every case [the deportee is] going to come up and say that they might face risk in their country" he said.

He went on to defend the list and cited its success in the successful apprehension of 15 names on the list, including seven which have already been deported.

A spokesman for the CBSA supported Mr Kenney's statements, explaining that the agency had received 225 calls since the list's publication, many of which proved to be useful.

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The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people make their Canada visa application to the Canadian Embassy.