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 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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