Friday, August 13,
1999 Refugee process in this country needs
makeover Boat incidents an example of
Ottawa's mismanagement
Diane Francis National
Post
Nick Didlick, the Vancouver
Sun Some of the women and children
among the 130 illegal Chinese immigrants peer out from the
rear deck of the Coast Guard ship the Arrow Post as they are
transported to the Port Hardy
dock.
| Ottawa remains
frozen at the switch even after I warned on July 25 in this column
that a second derelict ship with illegal aliens was on its way. As
we all know, it arrived this week.
Now I learn that a third ship is heading for North America. Worse
than that, dozens more stolen boats are being assembled in a staging
ground controlled by criminal organizations in Guam and Saipan now
that Ottawa has shown complete incompetence at handling the
situation.
Triads, or Chinese ethnic gangs, are involved and are making
fortunes smuggling narcotics and people out of China, sources say.
"The U.S. Coast Guard has identified another ship, now in
international waters," says a source. "The boat is heading for the
United States and word is that the Coast Guard will force it away
and into Canadian waters." Elinor Caplan, Ottawa's new Immigration
Minister, must move on this immediately and invoke her authority to
collect and deport all those Chinese who have come here so far. She
should also completely revamp the so-called "refugee" process in
this country, which is being abused by illegals and their smuggling
accomplices.
New Zealand and Australia passed emergency laws in the past few
months that allows them to turn away ships and their cargo. These
countries suffered from a recent surge in attempts to smuggle boat
people from all over the world.
The boat incidents are simply a small, but high-profile example
of how Ottawa has completely mismanaged the refugee process. Why do
we let scoundrels bring persons into our country to fraudulently
claim refugee status and let them get away with it?
Worse than the stupidity of our government is what Chinese
government officials call the unfortunate "pull facto." At a recent
secret meeting in the Fujian province with Chinese government
officials, Canadian immigration representatives were told that China
wants this smuggling to end because of what happens to the migrant
victims, but cannot unless Canada fixes its process.
Illegal aliens can ruin their lives because they make a Faustian
pact with some of the most evil persons in the world. The criminals
smuggle people for fees of $30,000 (US) -- money these people do not
have. Like loan sharks, these crooks lend this money and charge
usurious interest rates on this "loan." One way these poor people
can work off this loan is by getting involved in criminal
activities.
In other words our refugee policy has resulted in the importation
of a criminal element that was not here and need not have arrived.
Doesn't anyone in Ottawa have a cortex and understand that the
reason why some Honduran "refugees" have become involved in drug
trafficking in Vancouver, and addictions are spreading like cancer,
is that this is one way they can work off their loans to the
Colombian cocaine and heroin cartels.
The toll in human terms of this naive and stupid policy is
enormous.
I am the first to admit that Canada should do its bit to help
refugees, but only genuine ones.
People suffering in refugee camps qualify, not persons who enter
our country without documents then claim to be refugees.
Through sheer incompetence, Ottawa is ruining lives, exposing
Canadians to grave risks and financing the creation of a criminal
class that will hurt this country for years to come.
If these boatloads are not deported to send a message to others
on their way -- and the refugee process revamped -- then the
government of Canada should be sued by the provinces,
municipalities, taxpayer organizations and other victims of refugee
crimes. I will personally contribute to such a lawsuit.
RELATED SITES:
(Each link opens a new window)
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
The brand-new white paper on immigration policy
Statistics Canada: Immigration and
Citizenship
Statistics from the 1996 national census that look at where
Canadians came from.
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