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Thursday April 6 11:20 AM ET
TORONTO (CP) - The 600 Chinese migrants who arrived last summer in B.C. aboard rusty trawlers are "surreptitious, unarmed invaders of Canada" who "pushed their way" into the country, says a Federal Court justice.
Justice Francis Muldoon said the migrants who filled out refugee claims in B.C. engaged in "an adventure based on sneakiness and stealth."
He made the comments in a decision that upheld the detention of Ying Chen, 42, who arrived in September on the second of four ships that smuggled the Chinese to Canada.
"So little did the respondent respect this country and its public servants, who were obliged to make respectful inquiries about her pushing her way into Canada that the adjudicator said . . .'I am dealing with a situation of basic dishonesty,' " Muldoon wrote in the February judgment.
Muldoon said he was suspicious of Chen's manner of coming to Canada, her reluctance to reveal that her brother lived in Toronto and two prior immigration applications.
Also, he was not convinced she would turn up for removal proceedings.
Bill Coller, a Prince George, B.C., lawyer who represented Chen, said the judge's comments were "outrageous" and said his client is credible and will not disappear.
Since Muldoon's report, the Immigration and Refugee Board has turned down Chen's claim she faced persecution for her Catholic beliefs.
Another judge has granted her release from a Prince George jail on a $10,000 bond, said Coller.
(National Post) © The Canadian Press, 2000
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