WORLD NATIONAL SPORTS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT
Illegal migrants arrive to mixed reception in
Port Hardy
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An
unmarked ship believed to have originated in Korea in the seas
off the Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C., Wednesday. (Department
of National Defence) |
GREG JOYCE
PORT HARDY, B.C. (CP) - Search and rescue
officials found another four Chinese migrants in the woods on the
Queen Charlotte Islands just as about 130 others arrived in this
fishing community to a mixed reception.
Sgt. David Sheppard, of Victoria search and
rescue, said three migrants were picked up in the forest on Kunghit
Island early Thursday. A fourth was picked up later.
The four appeared to be looking for a highway,
Sheppard said, adding the RCMP is now sure all of the migrants have
been accounted for.
The Korean crew of the vessel that brought the group from China
and then dumped them in the ocean, forcing them to swim to the
rocky, wind-swept shore, had apparently assured them there was a
roadway.
But the area is among the most remote of the already isolated
island.
"They finished wandering over hill and dale and are ready to come
home," Sheppard said.
"I'm sure they're feeling much better with some warmth and some
food in their stomach."
Meanwhile, the rest of the group arrived in Port Hardy after
spending more than 10 hours on a sea voyage from the Queen
Charlottes.
They were detained on the ship for hours while they were searched
by authorities.
RCMP Const. Tracey Rook said the eight crew members, who were
arrested after they tried to elude Canadian authorities by speeding
their vessel back to international waters, were taken to the RCMP
detachment at Port Hardy.
As they were led off the coast guard vessel, some waved and
smiled while others looked glum.
They face charges under the Immigration Act.
Rook said she believes such charges have never been laid before
two groups of migrants washed up on British Columbia's shores in the
last month.
The charges are aiding and abetting a party of 10 or more to
illegally enter the country and causing a person to disembark at
sea.
"They will be held in the cells at Port Hardy for the time
being," Rook said.
The charges carry fines of $500,000 or 10 years in jail.
About 40 women and 20 children were among those forced to swim to
a barren shore in the pristine Queen Charlotte Islands on Wednesday.
One man had to be air-lifted to Queen Charlotte City for
treatment of severe hypothermia. Hospital officials said he was
treated and released to authorities Thursday afternoon.
The group is believed to be from Fujian, a province on the
southeast coast of China.
It's the same place a boatload of 123 migrants who came ashore on
Vancouver Island last month were from.
Several hundred residents of Port Hardy lined the shores behind
barricades set up by RCMP to await the arrival of the latest group.
One stood on a rock and played a shaky version of O Canada on his
trumpet.
"I think it's a bunch of bull," said a commercial fisherman who
refused to give his name. "Government holds us back from fishing for
this."
Four native women wore placards stating: Feed our People First
and Save Canadians First.
"They've got to come in like everybody else, not illegally," said
Lorna White, a member of the Kwakiulth First Nation.
Added Eliza Brotche: "They come in and bring all their big-time
drug dealers with them."
But other residents were more sympathetic.
"It is hard to say what their circumstances are. If they're being
persecuted, we've got land and resources," said Ruth McDonough.
Her friend, Pat Little, however, said the immigrants should have
been stopped outside Canadian waters.
"They should seize the boat out there. I think the captain should
be prosecuted."
The two groups of migrants have prompted heated debate about
Canada's immigration and refugee laws.
All the members of the first group have claimed refugee status.
Most are living in Vancouver and Victoria.
Thirty-seven have been jailed and some of the smugglers that
brought them to Canada are suspected to be among them.
Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan urged Canadians to keep the
recent events in context.
She said there are about 25,000 refugee claimants each year in
Canada and those who arrived on the two boats in the last month
total less than 300.
"I think it's just the time of the year," Caplan said.
"It's summer. Canada, by geography, is quite protected through
the winter months and it's very difficult and dangerous to get to
Canada by ship."
The issue of what to do with such illegal migrants has also
divided British Columbia's Chinese community.
Tung Chan, a senior banker and former Vancouver councillor, said
those opposed to accepting the refugees must remember that Canadian
policy allows for a certain number of refugees every year.
"They're simply following what the refugee law of Canada is,"
Tung said.
"People have to remember that there are two queues: One is for
immigrants and the other is the refugee queue.
However, other members of the community say the Chinese migrants
should be coming to Canada by lawful means.
A primer on China's Fujian province, origin of two ships that
brought illegal refugees to the British Columbia coast:
Pronunciation: Foo-gee-ann.
Where: A province on the southeast coast of China, facing Taiwan
across the Taiwan Strait.
Key cities: Fuzhou and Xiamen.
Climate: Subtropical.
Population: 25 million in the last census in the late 1970s but a
great deal more by now.
Foreign relations: Because it's on the coast with several
thriving trading ports, the province has historically been more
outward looking, and more wealthy, than the interior.
Migration: Emigration, too, has been more common than from other
inland provinces, although the adjacent province of Guangdong is
believed to outnumber Fujian historically in terms of number of
emigrants.
Recent factors: With China switching to a market economy and a
more open society, the provincial distinctions are diluted by
massive internal migration. People from poorer areas - generally
inland provinces - and those laid off from giant state enterprises
that have shut down, have been moving about the country looking for
work in the better-off areas, often along the coast. These people,
numbering in the millions, are sometimes referred to as China's
"floating population." It is a serious problem for the authorities
and a source of instability.
© The Canadian Press, 1999
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