Bruce Stotesbury, The Province / Handcuffed female migrants are brought to immigration hearings in Esquimalt yesterday.

ESQUIMALT -- Handcuffed, tagged with numbers, and under the eye of armed police and immigration guards, 44 Chinese youngsters -- some as young as just 11 --Êshuffled into Canadian hearing rooms yesterday to make refugee claims.

Most of the kids -- sent here unaccompanied to make better lives for their relatives -- will be the first people from a second boatload of 131 illegals to be freed while they await a decision on their claims.

But in one emotional and fiery hearing, Immigration Canada also sought to detain five of the young people, including a girl, whom authorities have marked as part of the smuggling organization.

"Children hold a very special place in Canadian society. Children are not routinely kept in detention in handcuffs in our society," lawyer David Aujla angrily told a hearing for the girl and four boys.

"This is not how Canadian children would or should be treated."

The problem of the unaccompanied young people has taxed the province, which announced yesterday plans to seek financial help from Ottawa to shore up already-strained Mandarin-speaking resources.

Thirty-nine of the 44 will be sent to Vancouver group homes while their claims are being considered, as will 10 more 18-year-olds covered under B.C.'s age of consent.

The hearing for the five children still detained provided a rare glimpse into both the investigation and the lives of the migrants themselves.

An immigration lawyer said one 17-year-old boy was described by others stuffed in the hold of the decrepit boat as constantly violent -- apparently even South Korean crew said they were scared of him.

Another boy told investigators he planned to go the United States. Yet another said he had relatives on the first boat of 123 migrants that landed in B.C. July 20.

The 17-year-old girl -- who had been weeping loudly earlier at the compound where the migrants are held --Êwiped tears from her eyes as Aujla described what he said was the cruel behaviour of her keepers.

She is one of the 18 so-called "enforcers" whom authorities forced to wear red coveralls. The rest of the migrants wear olive.

Aujla said the girl wet herself because of a miscommunication and was punished by being taken to a cell in a local RCMP detachment. "She was totally broken down," he said. "She can't understand why she's been isolated and segregated."

Lawyers for all the children said their clients -- who have been given teddy bears and games -- were terrified by the handcuffs police said were needed to preserve security.

"What strikes me the most about all of them so far is how victimized they are," said lawyer Vaughan Barrett.

"They left horrific conditions behind, and if they return they'll face even more horrible conditions.

"All of them were told they were going to be greeted warmly, that this was going to be a much better place to be and that they would be warmly embraced by the Canadian community. Needless to say, they're shattered by what's happened."