Canada's immigrant ministers calls
illegal immigration 'akin to slavery'
BEIJING (CP) - Federal Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan
denounced the growing trade in illegal immigrants as "akin to
human slavery" in a speech Tuesday to the Canada China
Business Council.
"Neither Canada nor China can afford to tolerate these
criminal practices,"Caplan said in remarks aimed at improving
efforts to shut the door on illegal immigration.
By cramming hundreds of illegal immigrants on rickety cargo
ships, smugglers "place countless lives in danger and
undermine public confidence in both our immigration and
refugee programs, and in the many close ties that our
countries enjoy," Caplan said.
She vowed that Canada would "adopt tough new measures to
deal with those who would abuse its immigration and refugee
system."
"By closing the back door to human smugglers and
traffickers, we can ensure that the front door remains open to
immigrants and genuine refugees."
Caplan said Canada was also working with Chinese officials
to co-ordinate efforts and that she was visiting China to
"observe first-hand" the initiatives China's Public Security
and Frontier Defence officials are taking to halt the illegal
traffic.
On Wednesday, she travels to Fujian province, the jumping
off point for many of the refugees who attempt to illegally
emigrate to Canada, the United States and Australia.
In Fujian, Caplan will meet the provincial governor and the
head of the Fujian Public Security Bureau and also discuss
with local Chinese officials measures being adopted in Canada.
She said she would also attempt to convey to Chinese people
the risks of illegal immigration.
"I am travelling to Fujian to do what I can to warn young
people there about what snakeheads have in store for them, and
about the dangers of placing their futures in the hands of
snakeheads," said Caplan, referring to the Chinese name used
for human smugglers.
"It's important that I not only meet with local mayors and
officials, but also that the local media report on this," she
said.
The minister said the debt taken on by individuals to pay
for illegal passage abroad - said to run as high as $60,000 US
- typically had to be repaid "over a short and cruel lifetime
of illicit activity, sexual exploitation and forced labour."
"Of course, some never make it at all; they simply perish
in transit," she said. The minister pointed to recent reports
in the international media which said that a boat carrying as
many as 220 smuggled migrants had disappeared was believed to
have sunk in the Indian Ocean.
Caplan expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the
Chinese to curtail the number of people leaving the country
illegally, reporting that China had imprisoned some 250
snakeheads last year and that an additional 180 had been
detained.
The Chinese have also beefed up security with the
establishment of a new, 10,000-member marine police force
patrolling coastal waters.
Among new measures being adopted in Canada, Caplan cited a
bill she introduced April 6 to bring about a comprehensive
reform of the country's immigration and refugee program that
would include up to life imprisonment and fines up to $1
million Cdn for migrant trafficking.
Four ships with some 600 Chinese nationals landed off the
coast of British Columbia last year. About 100 of the migrants
have since been returned to China.
Australia saw 86 boats arrive in 1999, with a total 3,600
people, while the United States has intercepted some 20 ships
over the last two years, carrying some 1,200 people.
Caplan said she was saddened by her visit to detention
centres in British Columbia, where she saw detainees of last
summer's boats, "the naive Chinese nationals who put their
lives at risk by selling their futures to the traffickers."
"I remember the fear and the frustration of these young
people, many of them just children, as they waited in
detention for an uncertain future," said Caplan.
Caplan said that since human smuggling and trafficking were
problems of international scope, international solutions were
required.
To that end, Canada has assumed a leading role in working
with other countries to develop a United Nations convention to
combat transnational organized crime, and a related protocol
on migrant smuggling.
Here are some facts about the status of Chinese migrants
who arrived by boat off the British Columbia coast last year:
---
Number of boats: Four
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Number of people aboard: 599, including nine crew.
---
Refugee claims made: 549
---
Exclusion orders: 41
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Claims approved (as of April 14): eight.
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Number of migrants removed from Canada: 23
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Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Dates of arrival of Chinese migrant ships off the coast of
British Columbia last year:
---
July 20, 1999: A ship arrives off Nootka Sound carrying 123
people, all seeking refugee status.
Aug. 9: Ship arrives in Gilbert Bay near the Queen
Charlotte Islands, with 140 on board. Most claim refugee
status.
Aug. 30: Ship arrives in Esperanza Inlet, off northwest
coast of Vancouver Island, with 190 on board. Most claim
refugee status but 33 are issued exclusion orders, the first
step to deportation.
Sept. 9: Ship arrives at Nootka Sound with 146 people on
board. Most claim refugee status.
© The Canadian Press, 2000