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Kim Emerson reports for CBC TV.
Kathryn King reports for CBC Radio.
CBC
TELEVISION
COVERAGE:
CLIP:  Sasa Petricic reports on the debate
over smuggled migrants.
A
primer on immigration policy from Norman Hermant
CBC
RADIO
COVERAGE:
ON AIR: Cross-Country Checkup, Sun: Are Canadians suckers to let in illegal
migrants?
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Immigration says rumours
of another smuggling scheme unfounded
WebPosted Sat Aug 14 08:35:18 1999
VICTORIA, B.C. - Immigration officials
in Victoria say they now have a clearer idea of who the latest
Chinese migrants are and how they got here. They also say there is
no evidence of a third ship en route to B.C.
They released the new
details Friday afternoon at a news conference at CFB Esquimalt,
where the migrants spent their first full day in detention.
It was a day that started at 4 a.m. The newly arrived migrants
have been photographed, deloused and given new clothing.
Jim Redmond of Citizenship and Immigration said things are
proceeding smoothly. "By late this afternoon or right at this time,
they've completed that process. Now they're starting medical
examinations."
The 131 migrants have been travelling nonstop since they left
China. Officials have clarified how the migrants got to a rocky
beach on the Queen Charlotte Islands.
They weren't forced to swim in cold choppy water. Instead the
Korean captain forced the bow of his boat into a rock cleft and told
the migrants to get off.
The youngest migrant is believed to be eight years old, and many
are under 18. Officials say they're all from Fujian province in
China, the home of another group of refugees who arrived three weeks
ago.
The West Coast is rife with rumours about another boat of illegal
migrants. But Redmond says they're just rumours.
"I've noticed that media have reported extensively that there is
another ship under surveillance. I would like to say that CIC
(Citizenship and Immigration Canada) and its partners are not aware
of any other smuggling ship in Pacific waters at this time.
Furthermore CIC has not requested National Defence search for a
specific boat on our behalf at this time."
Redmond says in the next few days the migrants will begin the
process of determining whether they can stay in this country. That's
despite an immigration statistic that says 70 per cent of people
from Fujian who try to come to Canada disappear before their refugee
hearings.
- RELATED: What
are your thoughts on illegal migrants? Send in your letters.
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