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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