Peter Blashill, The Province / RCMP
watch as one of the Chinese migrants enters a building at
armed forces base in Esquimalt.
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Peter Blashill, The Province / Jim
Redmond and Tracey Rook brief
reporters.
| VICTORIA --
RCMP confirmed yesterday that a third ship full of Chinese migrants
was headed toward B.C. before U.S. authorities intercepted it last
week.
Together with intelligence that another boat full of Asian
migrants recently set sail for the East Coast from Lithuania, it
indicates an increase in human smuggling that could stretch Canada's
beleaguered immigration, police and military resources to the limit.
"If it was to continue to happen and if it became more prevalent,
I would have to have a meeting with my director-general on what
additional support we would need to meet this situation," said
immigration spokesman Jim Redmond.
Navy Lt.-Cmdr. Gerry Pash said the problem is one the military
has already stepped up patrols to contain. But the armed forces can
only do so much with the resources they have.
"Everyone could require additional resources from time to time,"
said Pash. "How much patrolling do you want? How much . . . are
Canadians prepared to finance?"
The topic was one heard on every radio station and in most coffee
shops around B.C. this weekend as rumours continued to swirl about
more boatloads of Chinese fleeing Fujian province in the wake of the
arrival of 131 migrants on our coast this week.
Their boat came only three weeks after 123 compatriots sailed
into Nootka Sound -- all of whom have since claimed refugee status
in Canada.
RCMP spokeswoman Const. Tracey Rook said a boat smuggling a cargo
of more than 100 Chinese migrants was diverted to the Mariana
Islands, a U.S. territory near Guam. Police previously denied the
existence of the boat, which was boarded as it passed through
Japanese waters.
The passengers indicated that Vancouver was their final
destination.
"It's a very, very lucrative business and the West Coast of B.C.
is a very likely target, [owing] to our geographical location. We
have a very large coast," said Rook. "This is an ongoing problem,
and it's being addressed by many countries."
Immigration and RCMP continued yesterday to process the migrants
apprehended at the southern tip of the Queen Charlottes on
Wednesday, after being forced from the vessel that brought them to
Canada.
In addition to the third vessel from China, an immigration report
leaked to the media states that a fishing vessel from Lithuania is
slowly making its way through the North Atlantic to Canada.
Neither U.S. nor Canadian officials have confirmed or denied the
existence of the ship --Ęsaid to be overloaded with "criminals."
Smugglers used the same point of origin to send a boat full of
Chinese stowaways into the southern United States last week.
The issue has taken on an air of crisis, especially as
suggestions surfaced in the press on the weekend that the United
States may add Canada to the countries blacklisted for drug
trafficking -- an organized-crime activity that police suspect goes
hand-in-hand with human smuggling.
Rook said RCMP are working with agencies overseas to stop the
illegal activity before it happens.
She also said police suspect that organized-crime contacts in
this country are involved in bringing illegal immigrants to Canada.
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