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Wednesday, August 04, 1999

81 of 123 Chinese refugee claimants granted freedom


The Canadian Press

VICTORIA - Immigration Canada has begun releasing up to two- thirds of the 123 Chinese refugee claimants found drifting aboard a decrepit ship off the British Columbia coast nearly two weeks ago.

George Varnai, spokesman for Immigration Canada, said yesterday the department is satisfied that 81 of the refugees now in custody have proven their identity and the government will not oppose their release. Eight of those to be released were already free by yesterday afternoon.

"We expect those 81 people to be released within the next 24 or so hours," Mr. Varnai said.

A brief Immigration detention review must be held for each person seeking to be released.

Mr. Varnai said federal officials will argue for the continued detention of 34 people of those found on the ship, including 19 suspected of being part of the smuggling operation.

"In the case of those 34 people, we are still not satisfied with their identity and therefore we are continuing to argue for them remaining in detention for now," he said.

Eight juveniles have already been transferred into the care of the provincial Ministry for Children and Families. The teens have been placed into a group home.

All of the refugees were originally being kept at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, near Victoria, but have now been moved to a pretrial centre in Vancouver.

The 19 suspected of belonging to the smuggling ring that charged the illegal immigrants as much as $30,000 each to bring them to Canada are being held in Vancouver's city jail, police said. None of the 19 are included in the release.

Mr. Varnai said the 81 released refugee claimants have been put in touch with a Victoria intercultural society and the area Red Cross for help. There is no federal financial assistance available.

"They presumably are free to apply for provincial assistance," Mr. Varnai said.

Immigration authorities are arguing for terms and conditions to the releases, the most important being that the refugee claimants report to Immigration offices in Vancouver and Victoria.

They must report to the Vancouver office 28 days after release with their refugee papers.

The transfer came after a lockdown at the military gymnasium where the migrants were being detained. Several had refused to eat last week to protest the immigration process and the quality of the food they were being served.

Officials believe the 19 suspected ring leaders may have been behind the protest.

The 123 refugee claimants were found in the filthy hold of a cargo ship off the west coast of Vancouver Island on July 20. They spent 38 days crossing the ocean with no toilets and no drinking water.

Officials suspect the human smuggling operation may be linked to organized crime. One RCMP investigator has said allowing illegal migrants by the boatload into Canada will only encourage more to set sail for here.

What happens to the 123 Chinese migrants "is going to determine a lot of people's actions on the other side," said Staff-Sergeant Glen Rockwell.

 
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