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Migrants found in container expected to claim refugee status
WebPosted Wed Jan 5 09:59:57 2000 ET

VANCOUVER - Federal immigration officials have levied a $375,000 fine against the operators of a cargo ship that transported 25 Chinese migrants to the port of Vancouver. The 21 men and four boys were found Monday in two containers aboard the California Jupiter.

And even more stowaways were discovered Tuesday in shipping containers in Seattle.

14 more stowaways found in Seattle
The ship that brought the migrants to Vancouver, owned by NYK of Japan, was heading to Seattle from Hong Kong, but was diverted to Vancouver because of a backlog at Seattle's port.


NYK paid the fine and was cleared to leave Vancouver Tuesday. The migrants said they paid $60,000 US for what appeared to be a carefully planned trip.


RCMP Cpl. Grant Learned said there was a level of sophistication in the setup; the containers had battery-operated fans, low lighting and separate living quarters with small mattresses.

Despite the fans, their food was beginning to spoil and the air was fetid.

"You have to imagine you had 12 and 13 people respectively in containers that measure roughly 40 by 10 feet," Learned said.

Despite being trapped for two weeks under dozens of other containers, all of the migrants appear to be in good health.

The men are in custody at the Vancouver pre-trial centre and are expected to make refugee claims.

Rob Johnston of Immigration Canada said when the men were discovered, it took some of them several hours to realize they were in Canada and not Seattle.

While it seems like a minor incident compared with nearly 600 Chinese migrants who arrived in Vancouver last summer, police are looking for a pattern.

On Tuesday U.S. authorities found another 14 migrants hiding in a container in Seattle. All of them appeared to be stowaways from China.

The ship that carried the most recent migrants, the Norasia Shamsha had sailed to Seattle from Hong Kong via Taiwan and Korea.

A dozen more were found last Sunday in Seattle, in containers shipped by the Lap Kei Trading Company, the same type of containers found in Vancouver. Chinese stowaways were found in similar circumstances in containers arriving in Los Angeles and Long Beach, California in late December.

It was because of a tip from U.S. authorities warning Canada Customs about Lap Kei containers that the California Jupiter was searched.


Newsworld

Chinese migrants from previous trips

Terry Milewski and Jack Sullivan report for CBC TV

Greg Rasmussen reports for CBC Radio


[Download Players]


NEWSWORLD
COVERAGE:
 CLIP:Newsworld's Mark Kelley talks to Leon Benoit, Reform Immigration Critic, about the Reform Party's concern regarding the Chinese migrant situation

Newsworld's Nancy Wilson talks to Cpl. Grant Learned about the RCMP's investigation

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