Saturday, August 21, 1999

Adrienne Tanner
National Post

Fearing for the safety of the underage Chinese refugee claimants, government officials and lawyers are advising them to stay in Canada and avoid the smugglers who ferried them across the ocean.

Most of the children are to be moved into group homes next week. They will not be under detention and could easily leave.

B.C.'s Ministry of Children and Families, now the guardians of the dozens of children smuggled to Canada on boats this summer, has handed each child a letter.

"It warns them about the possible risks of prostitution and sweatshop labour," says Vaughan Barrett, a lawyer representing some of the children.

Ministry officials would not reveal the exact wording of the letters, which are signed by child protection director Ross Dawson.

Kevin Doyle, another Victoria lawyer acting for the children, is also worried about their safety.

None of his clients from the first boat paid the entire cost of their journeys, and those from the second said they paid nothing at all. They all owe thousands of dollars and are expected to work to pay off their debts.

"Some of them are obviously attractive and young and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what work was planned for them," Mr. Doyle said.

Last October, a 15-year-old Chinese refugee claimant in government care slipped past government and social service agency officials and disappeared.

The girl had flown into Vancouver International Airport alone and assured everyone she had a guardian waiting for her in Toronto, says Chris Friesen, settlement co-ordinator at Vancouver's Immigrant Services Society.

She stayed a few days at the Vancouver refugee receiving house until children's ministry staff, convinced she was telling the truth, arranged for her trip to Toronto. She has not been seen by authorities since. Speculation is rife that smugglers who organized the girl's trip to Canada whisked her to New York, Mr. Friesen said. "We suspect she went into prostitution."

So far, 17 unaccompanied teenage boys who came on the first ship have filed refugee claims, and another 44 boys and girls who arrived on the second boat intend to do the same.

The children, who were traveling alone and range in age from 11 to 18, will remain under the ministry's care until their refugee hearings are complete. Immigration officials will argue that five of the children, believed by police to be members of the smuggling ring, should not be released.

The others will begin moving to group homes somewhere in the Lower Mainland on Monday, said Theresa Kerin, assistant deputy minister for the children's ministry. "They will live in a 24-hour staffed group home. But it's not a detention centre, not a locked facility."

Staff are under strict instructions to keep the locations secret, but Mr. Doyle predicts it won't take long for the smugglers to track them down.

"Short of locking them up, I don't think we can totally protect them from those who might want to be in touch with them."

Mr. Barrett has been hammering home one message over and over again: Steer clear of the smugglers. "These are not your friends, these are people who are only concerned with using you," he said.

"All we can do is hope that they use some good judgment."