"They'll just take your money but leave you stranded," said Kenney in a statement issued from Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo.

"Canada has a generous and open legal immigration system, but those who try to get into Canada through the back door using human smugglers will not succeed and are wasting their money trying."

A statement from Kenney's office also says recent human smuggling operations have been stopped in port, but officials weren't able to provide any details.

Local media report that Kenney met with Sri Lanka's foreign affairs minister while in Colombo to improve joints efforts to curb human smuggling operations.

Kenney also called on Sri Lanka to speed up post-civil war reconciliation and human rights improvements, issues some say push desperate Sri Lankans to try smuggle their way to the West.