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Friday, August 20, 1999

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.