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Illegal Migrants Thursday, Feb. 10, 2000

Many migrants fail to post 'mail-in' refugee forms

By KELLEY TEAHEN -- London Free Press

LONDON, Ont. - Four Chinese migrants found in Sarnia last week asked for refuge in Canada when they arrived at Pearson International Airport last month -- and then tried to sneak into the U.S. Feb. 3 via a cross-border train tunnel.

The four -- a male, 20, and three females, ages 31, 32 and 33 -- were ordered held in detention yesterday by adjudicator Carmen de Carlo, who conducted their detention hearings at the Citizenship and Immigration Canada offices in Windsor.

The four were part of a group of nine Chinese migrants -- seven females and two males -- discovered at the Super 8 motel in Sarnia on Feb. 3. Investigators were tipped off when alarms sounded earlier that morning at the Port Huron-Sarnia train tunnel, indicating people had tried to enter.

The remaining five migrants appear at detention hearings today in Windsor. Of those, three also made refugee claims at Toronto's airport last month and the other two travelled to Canada on legitimate visitors' visas, said Marc Bourgeois, case presenting officer at the immigration office.

People who make refugee claims at points of entry like airports aren't held, nor do they meet with officials to complete an application. Instead, they're given a package of information and 21 days to complete and mail in application forms, he said. "Some of the Sarnia group were within that 21-day period, but others had passed" it, he said.

Mail-in refugee claims were to streamline the process and save money but MP Rose-Marie Ur (L --Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) says the government has been its "own worst enemy" for not having adequate staffing.

Bourgeois said it appears these nine are not part of the same smuggling operation as one transporting 10 Chinese migrant girls found in Wallaceburg Jan. 5, as well as nine migrants found in the back of a van crossing the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit on Feb. 1.

Although seven of the Sarnia nine tried to skip the country after making a refugee claim, they will be allowed to continue with the refugee claim process from detention, Bourgeois said. They will be held in Toronto to await refugee hearings.



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