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.
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14 more stowaways found in Seattle
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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.
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