WORLD   NATIONAL   SPORTS   BUSINESS   ENTERTAINMENT  

Authorities intercept third boatload of migrants

MOIRA MCLEAN


ESQUIMALT, B.C. (CP) - The RCMP confirm that a third ship loaded with a human cargo of Chinese migrants was en route to the Canadian West Coast.

But first Japanese and then American authorities intercepted the vessel and turned it back, RCMP Const. Tracey Rook said Sunday.

She said the ship carried a cargo of Chinese migrants who expected to make landfall on the B.C. coast by September.

It was first intercepted and boarded as it passed through Japanese waters. Then the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted it as it sailed through American territory in the Pacific.

The police spokeswoman said the ship is now headed to the Mariana Islands, off Guam, a U.S. territory.

Rook said that although the RCMP knew about the third vessel some time ago, police could not reveal it sooner because of the involvement of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Canadian authorities expect more vessels carrying illegal migrants to show up on the West Coast, Rook said.

"The recent occurrences off of B.C.'s coast are part of a global trend of migrant smuggling," she said.

"The RCMPs national mandate with the Immigration and Passport section is to deter and investigate alien smuggling activities. This is an ongoing problem, and it's being addressed by many countries.

"We are working with other agencies in order to ensure that things don't get to the stage where (migrants) even leave for here."

Smuggling of human cargo is strongly connected to organized crime, Rook said.

"We will continue to be vigilant in our efforts to deter and to prosecute the criminal organizations that bring people to Canada through this or other illegal methods," she said.

"It's a very - a very - lucrative business and the West Coast of B.C. is a very likely target due to our geographical location. We have a very large coast."

Officials of both the RCMP and federal Immigration Department say the two separate boatloads of Chinese migrants that have landed in B.C. in less than a month have stretched their resources to the limit.

"If it was to continue to happen and if it became more prevalent, I would have to have meetings with my director general on what additional support we would need to meet these situations," said Immigration spokesman Jim Redmond.

Navy Lt.-Cmdr. Gerry Pash said additional patrols have been stepped up to cover sea routes from Asia.

Meanwhile, the processing of 131 Chinese men, women and children - one believed to be as young as eight - at the Canadian Forces Base in Esquimalt is going smoothly, Redmond said.

Military doctors have completed examinations that revealed nothing but minor ailments, Redmond said.

The illegal migrants were dumped into the frigid ocean off the Queen Charlotte Islands early last week after a harrowing 58 days at sea.

The ship's nine crew members - believed to be smuggling the migrants into Canada - are being detained in a Victoria jail and face charges under the Immigration Act.

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. Such charges carry fines as high as $500,000 or 10 years in jail.

Police believe the crew members are South Korean. The South Korean government said last week the suspected smugglers would also face prosecution in Korea if they are returned home.

Moe Sihota, B.C. minister of social development and economic security, said the province's taxpayers can't afford to foot the bill to care for the migrants - for possibly three years.

That's how long it takes the federal government to process refugee claims.

Sihota said Ottawa should pay the $5.5 million cost for the two boatloads of refugees, the first of which arrived last month.

More than 120 illegal Chinese migrants made it to shore in July and 37 suspected smugglers are still in jail.

Both groups of migrants are believed to have arrived from China's Fujian province.

© The Canadian Press, 1999




Free email  Search  SuperSearch  Directory Search  People Finder  Business Finder  News Café  Weather  Your Money 
Shopping  Lotteries  TVTimes  Horoscope  About Canada.com  Site Map  Privacy Policy

Copyright © 1999 Southam Inc. All rights reserved. Optimized for browser versions 3.0 and higher
"canada.com is a production of Southam Inc., Canada's largest publisher of daily newspapers"