Friday, August 20,
1999 Immigration makes bid to detain 5
child migrants Suspected 'enforcers':
Lawyers outraged that children led to hearing in
handcuffs
Adrienne Tanner and Jason Proctor National Post
Bruce Stotesbury, Victoria
Times-Colonist Handcuffed female
migrants are brought to the immigration hearings at the
Victoria military base where they are being held in Esquimalt,
B.C.,
yesterday.
| Immigration
officials are making a bid to detain five Chinese children who they
suspect are enforcers for a smuggling ring.
"This is for identity reasons. We have security concerns over
their possible role as organizers," said Janis Harper, spokeswoman
for Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
The remaining 39 of 44 unaccompanied children who travelled on a
boat from China and landed on the British Columbian coast last week
have been released into the guardianship of the provincial Ministry
of Children and Families. Immigration officials are arguing that the
five possible ringleaders not be released into group homes, but
remain in custody.
Restrained by metal handcuffs, the unaccompanied children, who
range in age from 11 to 18, were led in groups into a detention
review hearing room in Victoria yesterday. They received conditional
departure orders allowing them to remain in Canada until their
refugee claims are heard.
Lawyers were appalled at the handcuffs and demanded the children
be freed.
"These are not criminals, they're children," said Marlene
Tyshynski, a lawyer who represents a number of the girls. "I also
asked that the children not be shackled, but it was seen as a
security concern."
Constable Tracey Rook, an RCMP spokeswoman, said the handcuffs
were necessary to protect the safety of everyone in the cramped
hearing room, including the children. Police offered to free the
children and leave the building if the lawyers agreed to assume
total liability for everyone. "No one has gotten back to us."
She said police believe that some of the teenage boys pose
security concerns.
Two teenage boys have been assigned red coveralls to distinguish
them from the rest of the 44 children clad in green one-piece
pantsuits.
"The red is for individuals who have been identified as perhaps
being organizers," said Const. Rook.
The colour-coding is a security measure so "people can be
identified quickly as to which group they're from."
Security concerns have transformed the gymnasium at CFB
Esquimalt, where all but a handful of the 131 migrants are being
housed, into a complex maze of segregated living quarters.
High-risk adult males have been separated from the rest of the
adult men. A similar but separate arrangement has been set up for
the boys. Low risk adult women and girls are bunking together, while
several adult women who are considered high risk have also been
separated.
Four men and one woman who are considered an extreme security
risk have been sent to jail. The four men are in Vancouver Island
Regional Correctional Centre, the sole woman was sent to nearby RCMP
cells.
The rest of the group shares meals together under heavy police
guard. Otherwise, they exercise, socialize and sleep separately,
Const. Rook said.
Lawyers say their young clients are placid and polite. They
seemed touched by the plight of the children who undertook the
perilous 60-day journey with no parents or guardians to comfort
them.
"What strikes me most about all of them so far is how victimized
they are," said Vaughan Barrett, a lawyer for a number of the
juveniles.
"They left horrific conditions behind, and if they return they'll
face even more horrible conditions."
The children left the Fujian province of China with high hopes,
Mr. Barrett said. "They were told they were going to be greeted
warmly, that this was going to be a much better place to be."
The children spent the past week in CFB Esquimalt and most will
be turned over to the Ministry of Children and Families as soon as
accommodation can be arranged. They will remain in government care
until their refugee hearings are complete.
RELATED SITES:
(Each link opens a new window)
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
The brand-new white paper on immigration policy
Statistics Canada: Immigration and
Citizenship
Statistics from the 1996 national census that look at where
Canadians came from.
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