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A Canadian Tamil organization say nearly all the 45 children and some women arriving in B.C. on the MV Sun Sea are traumatized after witnessing a man dying on board the ship and being buried at sea.

Some of the 490 claimants who arrived illegally last Friday will undergo refugee hearings starting on Monday in B.C. They are required to have a hearing within 48 hours of their arrival in Canada.

The children who arrived on the boat are “traumatized” by the death of the man, who was in his 30s and had a wife a child in Sri Lanka, said members of the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC).

“The children and some women knew the man and witnessed his death and burial,” CTC spokesman Sarujan Kanapathipillai said on Sunday. “They will require grief counselling.”

He said the man, whose identity hasn’t been released, died from an unknown condition in late July.

“There were no doctors on board and he was buried at sea,” Kanapathipillai said. “He was coming here to make a better life for his wife and son back at home.”

He said CTC lawyers have spoken to some of those from the ship and reported they’re in good condition. The Tamils are being held at CFB Esquimalt.

“We have been relaying messsages back to Sri Lanka from those who’ve made it,” Kanapathipillai said. “We are helping them out and making sure they’re fine.”

Toronto immigration lawyers expect more than 90% of Tamils to be accepted by an Immigration and Refugee Board. In addition to the 45 children, there were 50 women and 395 men on board.

In the first six months of 2010, there were 1,163 Sri Lankan cases pending before the IRB and 345 of those were accepted, board statistics show. Sri Lankan applicants have an 85% acceptance rate, which is the highest of the top 10 refugee producing countries.

Board documents show it’s difficult for Ottawa to deport Sri Lankans who are in the country illegally since many don’t have proper identification. Ottawa has a list of 17 Tamils awaiting deportation but can’t remove them due to lack of documents. Ten of those men are being turfed for national security concerns.