Human smuggler issued new Canadian passport after court ordered surrender of travel document

A new passport was issued to an admitted human smuggler by federal authorities, despite a court order requiring him to surrender travel documents as part of his release conditions. This development was uncovered during a June 2023 RCMP search of the Montreal residence of Thesingarasan Rasiah, as part of an investigation into an alleged international human smuggling operation led by him.

Rasiah had been under strict court-imposed conditions, including wearing an electronic ankle monitor, following his February 2023 guilty plea to breaching the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. This charge stemmed from his role in smuggling a Sri Lankan national from the U.S. into Canada in 2021. As part of his conditions, he was required to surrender his passport and prohibited from applying for new travel documents. However, a new passport was issued by Service Canada on April 11, 2023, less than two weeks after the tragic deaths of nine individuals linked to his smuggling operation on the St. Lawrence River.

In April 2021, Rasiah was arrested in Cornwall, Ontario, after being caught receiving a smuggled Sri Lankan national. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison in September 2023. Before serving this sentence, he was re-arrested in May 2023 on charges of leading a smuggling network responsible for moving hundreds of individuals across the Canada-U.S. border. Investigators connected his network to the March 2023 drowning deaths of two families from India and Romania, along with a boat operator, during a failed crossing attempt.

Experts have criticized Canada’s passport system, highlighting gaps in security protocols. According to Kelly Sundberg, a criminology professor, the passport system operates separately from law enforcement databases, creating a "weak link" in national security. Sundberg recommended transferring passport oversight to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to strengthen screening processes.

Former Ontario Provincial Police detective Matthew Eamer, who had investigated Rasiah’s activities for years, stated that Rasiah continued smuggling operations even while awaiting sentencing. Eamer described the motives behind human smuggling as purely profit-driven, devoid of altruism. He recounted interviewing a Sri Lankan man who was smuggled by Rasiah in 2021. The man claimed he was charged $7,000 CAD for passage into Canada, with a promise of employment to repay the debt. Ultimately, the man was deported back to the U.S. by Canadian authorities.

Calls for greater scrutiny have emerged, with critics demanding an emergency parliamentary review of Rasiah’s case to address lapses in Canada’s immigration and passport systems.