VANCOUVER — A second migrant from the MV Sun Sea was deported on Thursday after admitting that he was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the early 1990s

But in a separate hearing, one of the last remaining Tamil women still in detention was ordered released after the government dropped its claim that a piece of jewelry she brought with her suggested ties to the Tigers.

The man ordered deported had trained with the LTTE for a year, including six months with its naval arm, the Sea Tigers, the Immigration and Refugee Board heard. He subsequently was assigned to protect Tamils crossing into LTTE-controlled territory from possible attacks from Sri Lankan forces.

After four months, he told his bosses that he wanted to quit and was punished by being sent to wash dishes for 16 months before being discharged, the board was told.

In her decision, board adjudicator Daphne Shaw Dyck said even though the migrant had never engaged in battle, his training and his role with the Tigers was "unambiguous," making him inadmissible to Canada.

The Tamil Tigers engaged in a lengthy civil war with the Sri Lankan government, which ended with the Tigers' defeat in 2009.

The group is considered a terrorist organization and is banned in Canada.

The migrant — who cannot be named due to a publication ban — sat impassively with his arms crossed as the decision was announced.

His duty counsel, Shepherd Moss, signalled to the board that he intended to apply to the minister of public safety under a section of law that says someone deemed inadmissible can be exempted if the minister is satisfied that the person's "presence in Canada would not be detrimental to the national interest."

Last week, another Tamil migrant was ordered deported after he, too, was found to have been a member of the Tigers in the 1990s.

His duty counsel, Robin Bajer, says his client is applying to the government for a pre-removal risk assessment, in which he will argue that he faces a serious risk of persecution or torture if returned to Sri Lanka.

If the government finds that such a risk exists, that could result in him being allowed to stay in Canada, though he would be ineligible for permanent-resident status.

The government is seeking the removal of more than 40 of the Sun Sea migrants, mostly on the grounds of membership with the Tigers or serious criminality.

Meanwhile, one of only two Tamil women still in detention since the Sun Sea's arrival last summer was ordered released on Thursday. Earlier this week, the board agreed to keep the woman — the mother of two children — in detention after the government argued that it needed more time to investigate a necklace the woman brought with her.

The government said the woman's pendant — or thali — had features that suggested it was only given to members of the Tamil Tigers.

But Sonya Sunger, a representative for the Canada Border Services Agency, told the board Thursday that an outside expert's analysis of the pendant was "inconclusive."

Sunger tried to keep the woman in detention on grounds that the woman was a flight risk. She argued that the woman's credibility was a problem because she had withheld information to federal officers, including the activities of her husband, who Sunger alleged travelled with "high-ranking" LTTE members.

But the woman's lawyer, Douglas Cannon, said the woman was made to feel uncomfortable during interviews with federal officers because of repeated accusations about her and her husband and "aggressive" interviewing techniques.

In deciding to release the woman on terms and conditions, immigration adjudicator Geoff Rempel said it was possible the woman had been "kept in the dark" about her husband's activities.