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 Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000
Chinese migrants separated from other Windsor jail inmates after teen
beaten
LONDON, Ont. (CP) -- An assault on an 18-year-old female migrant
and complaints of beatings and bullying have prompted Windsor jail
officials to segregate 11 Chinese migrants for their own protection.
"The jail is not the place for these teenagers," John
Rokakis, a Windsor lawyer representing seven Chinese migrants caught in a
recent smuggling bust, said Tuesday.
Sungee John, with an
immigrant woman's advocacy group, called on federal government officials
to provide better facilities for the growing number of migrants in Windsor
awaiting hearings.
"These kids are frightened. They are with
convicted criminals," said John, head of Windsor Women Working with
Immigrant Women.
It's not the teenagers' fault they are
stuck in jail, because their parents made them come to Canada, John said.
Chen Hai Yong, 18, told a hearing Monday she and two other
female migrants were assaulted.
One inmate kicked and
punched her and banged her head into a wall while three others watched,
John said.
Ross Virgo, Correctional Services Ministry
spokesman, confirmed Tuesday an Asian women was assaulted by an inmate in
the jail's common area.
Eight adult female migrants and
three young male migrants have been separated from the general population,
he said.
Yong and eight other migrants were found in a van
on the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor and Detroit on Feb. 1.
The Windsor jail is also holding migrants found in Sarnia,
Ont., on Feb. 3.
Three boys in the jail, ages 16 and 17, who
were caught on the Ambassador Bridge, have complained that inmates are
stealing their food and bullying them, John said.
"They kept
begging us not to send them back to the jail."
Meanwhile, a
young Chinese migrant who had been offered release from custody remains in
a youth detention facility because her guarantors have not yet come
forward.
The 15-year-old and two other Chinese migrants were
found in Wallaceburg, Ont. on Jan. 5.
Last week, an
adjudicator ordered the girl be released into the care of her uncle in
Toronto. The uncle and a Windsor church have yet to post the required
bonds and surety funds.
(London Free Press)
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