Illegal arrivals worse off, says lawyer

STEPHEN THORNE

OTTAWA (CP) - The chances of would-be refugees arriving on Canada's doorstep unannounced and getting to stay are worse now than in the 1980s when two groups came ashore on the East Coast, says an immigration lawyer.

Between 70 and 80 per cent of the 174 Sikh refugee claimants who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1987 without paperwork survived the immigration process and remain in Canada, said Halifax lawyer Lee Cohen.

The acceptance rate would be about half that now, consistent with overall immigration policy, Cohen said Wednesday after a ship loaded with 122 Chinese citizens was discovered off the B.C. coast.

"There is no question that the international industry that moves people is a preoccupation with the Canadian Immigration Department," Cohen said.

"Most of their energy since the Sikhs came here in '87 - most of the amendments and most of the policy-making that goes on in the Immigration Department - has been dedicated to the issue of stemming the tide of people coming into Canada and people bringing undocumented people into Canada."

Unfortunately, he said, rules intended to stop illegals from entering often end up preventing legitimate refugees from coming in.

Still, he added, immigrants arriving illegally appear to be no worse off than those who take a more conventional route through the immigration system.

"There's no relationship between being able to stay and mode of arrival," said Cohen, who represented many of the Sikhs who landed a year after a group of Tamils staged a similar arrival in Newfoundland.

"Our law allows people to come to Canada undocumented and claim refugee status."

The problem with arrivals like those in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland is that they tend to shift the public focus to illegalities rather than events that caused them in the first place, said Cohen.

"We tend to . . . generalize that these are people who are economic refugees looking for a better life so they come to Canada where they have half a kick at the can.

"What it tends to take our eye away from is the destitution of some people in the world who will use any method that they can to get to this country."

Illegal traffickers, while they may be mercenary, are on occasion performing a mission of mercy, he said.

Immigration spokesman Jim Redmond called human smuggling "organized crime at its worst."

RCMP Cpl. Ray Legare said recent investigations show illegal aliens smuggled in by boat have paid up to $40,000 for their passage. Those who can't pay must work off their debt through indenture and slavery, he said.

The Chinese passengers are considered under arrest. They could face a long process after immigration hearings in a few days.

"We're assuming they are people who don't have legal status," said Lois Reimer, of Immigration. "If they don't claim refugee status . . . then we're looking at deportation."

For those who do claim refugee status - simply a matter of saying so - it will be months before their claims are resolved. Even then, it's not certain they will be successful, she said.

"We have genuine refugees from China, but it's not a given that because they're from China they're refugees."

If not, they can be put back aboard their ship and, provided it has a captain and he hasn't been charged with importing undocumented aliens, they can be escorted back out of Canadian waters, said Cohen.