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Suspicious ship may have migrants

GREG JOYCE


VANCOUVER (CP) - Another ship believed to be sailing from Asia with illegal immigrants on board was expected to enter Canadian waters Tuesday.

Immigration officials said they planned to hail the ship to warn the captain about illegally entering Canadian jurisdiction. Plans were also in place to possibly escort the ship to shore. George Varnai, a spokesman with Citizenship and Immigration, provided few details about the department's plans.

"We have had no contact with the vessel yet," he said. "We saw people on board this afternoon," said Varnai, who could not say for certain the passengers' ethnic origin.

Last month, an unmarked, decrepit vessel arrived on the east coast of Vancouver Island carrying 123 Chinese migrants stuffed into a stinking, fetid hold.

Officials believe the people were being smuggled into Canada.

Once in Canada, they were taken to the naval base at Esquimalt, near Victoria, where they claimed refugee status.

Thirty-six of the migrants arrived in Vancouver on Monday to live while they await refugee hearings.

Most of the others are staying in Victoria and 37 have been taken into detention and are suspected of being part of the smuggling operation.

Varnai said the latest ship had appeared to be circling since it was spotted Monday afternoon.

But at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the vessel changed direction and began sailing towards Canada, Varnai said.

Immigration and Citizenship officials and the RCMP departed for Sandspit, B.C., a small community on the Queen Charlotte Islands, in anticipation of the boat reaching land at a destination that is still unclear.

The ship was expected to arrive somewhere on a Canadian shore between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Varnai said the ship would be hailed by authorities, likely with a megaphone from another vessel and given a warning.

The options open to authorities include possible arrest of the ship's captain.

If the people on board are illegal migrants seeking admission to Canada, Varnai said they would likely be taken into custody and "examined for immigration purposes and possible criminal charges."

"The last time, the ship was in Canadian waters," said Varnai. "This one is not yet."

Lt.-Cmdr. Chris Henderson of Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt said the latest ship was spotted as a result of a Defence Department decision to alter the course of its routine surveillance following the arrival of the first ship.

The latest ship appears in pretty good condition, better than the previous ship, said Varnai.

The ship has no markings or fishing gear.

The surveillance pattern was changed not because authorities had specific information of another vessel en route to Canada, said Henderson.

"We changed the surveillance pattern after the first ship to improve the likelihood of finding other vessels before they arrived in Canada."

Varnai rejected suggestions that Canada seemed to be an easy target for possible illegal human smuggling.

He said that was "a bit of an exaggeration" and that the U.S. has had similar occurrences in the last few years, as well as Australia and other countries.

"Smuggling will not end in the short term," said Varnai. "It's a significant business."

Earlier, Lt.-Cmdr. Gerry Pash said on any given day there are about 600 ships off the B.C. coast in the area the navy patrols.

"We maintain a pretty complete picture of what's going on out there 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said.

© The Canadian Press, 1999




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