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
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