|
|
 | Home - Help |  |
| | |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |||
Tuesday January 11 7:18 PM ET
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan Tuesday said she would visit China in April to warn potential migrants against turning to people-smugglers who would only exploit and enslave them.
But Caplan, speaking to Reuters in an interview, said it was almost inevitable that more migrants from China would try to gain entry into Canada this year.
Last year some 600 Chinese migrants arrived on Canada's western coast in dilapidated boats and immediately sought refugee status. Some said they had promised the smugglers $60,000 each.
Last week customs officers found 25 Chinese men hiding in cargo containers in Vancouver, prompting critics to redouble calls for the government to tighten up both its border and its traditionally liberal immigration policies.
``I'm going to China to deliver the message to smugglers that they're not going to succeed and also deliver the message directly to people in China that the smugglers are lying to them and they're cheating them and placing their lives in danger,'' Caplan said.
Three dead Chinese migrants were found in a cargo container in Seattle Monday, which Caplan said only reinforced the seriousness of her message. Many migrants, most from Fujian province, are thought to be trying to reach the United States.
``I want to warn those naive enough to believe that the smugglers are offering anything other than exploitation, despair and serious risk to human life,'' Caplan said.
``We know from anecdotal stories that many of those who get into the clutches of smugglers...(when in Canada) try to escape from the criminals they are indebted to and are killed.''
She said Canadian authorities were working closely with China to stem the flow of migrants but conceded that there was no way to prevent all of them from reaching Canada.
``We have to anticipate that there will be more arrivals. Certainly this (phenomenon) is relatively new...We have to use the resources we have as effectively as possible and try to anticipate,'' Caplan said.
Last August she vowed Canada would deport any migrants whose bid for refugee status has been rejected but so far only a handful have been sent back, partly because the Canadian immigration law allows initial rejections to be appealed.
``We will be working with the Chinese government...to ensure that people are returned and are able to deliver the message that I'll be reinforcing,'' she said.
Ironically, Canada is having great trouble attracting the 250,000 or so immigrants a year it says it needs to maintain the prosperity of the country and its 30 million inhabitants.
``The challenge is to maintain an open front door while we close the back door,'' Caplan admitted, who in the past has blamed excessive red tape for the shortfall in immigrants.
``By the year 2020, when baby boomers start retiring, we are going to have a problem if we do not maintain, sustain and in fact increase the numbers of people coming to at least one percent of the population.''
She said Canada was competing with other world powers for immigrants and predicted the race to snap up the most suitable ones would increase.
``We haven't done enough in the area of both marketing and
getting people here quickly enough. Much of (their) frustration
has been that we're very careful (with background checks), as we
should be,'' she said.
Earlier Stories
| | |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|