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Terry Milewski reports for CBC TV.

Laura Lynch reports for CBC radio


Intercepted immigrants in custody in B.C.
WebPosted Thu Jul 22 08:33:59 1999

ESQUIMALT, B.C. - After 39 days aboard a stinking ship a group of illegal immigrants caught Tuesday off Vancouver Island are being held in a gymnasium on a Canadian Forces Base, awaiting interviews from immigration authorities.

On Tuesday, a boat jammed with 122 Chinese trying to sneak into Canada was found off the coast of Nootka Sound, about 300 kilometres northwest of Victoria.


Gymnasium at CFB Esquimalt
Canadian authorities say they have identified 11 passengers they believe may be behind one of the biggest human smuggling operations ever discovered off the West Coast.

"We're keeping them as separate from the others as possible," said Jim Redmond, a spokesman for the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

The rest of the 104 men and 18 women who were found in the hold of the 36-metre fishing vessel are being held at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, just outside Victoria.

Cots have been moved into the gymnasium and clothing and showers were provided. The weary travellers clapped and waved as they were led away on the base.

Language problems are hampering efforts of investigators to question the passengers. But none of them appear to have passports or other identification. Officials say it is an old trick for people trying to enter the country illegally. The lack of documentation makes it very difficult to deport them.

Catherine Sas, an immigration lawyer in Vancouver says the Chinese authorities typically do not accept people without identity documents. "And so that puts us in the very difficult position, in a catch 22 situation -- they can't get status in Canada, but Canada can't effectively remove them," she says.

So far Canadian officials say they do not know who organized this smuggling operation, but it has all the hallmarks of organized crime. And little by little, some of the details are emerging.

"The ship left ... from Fuzhou (China)," said George Varnai, regional director for the department of Citizenship and Immigration. "Our current assumption is they were trying to unload somewhere on the coast."

One of the passengers has indicated he paid $38,000 U.S. for his passage.

Those kinds of fees have made the smuggling of human cargo a huge international business, with smugglers leaving many countries trying to get paying passengers into Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and other North American cities.

A similar ship was found deserted and sinking, off the Queen Charlotte Islands three weeks ago. Immigration officials admit they're investigating the possibility that boat may have carried illegal migrants.

More than a decade ago, two similar shiploads of people were found on Canada's East Coast:

  • In August 1986, more than 150 Tamils were found in two life-boats off Newfoundland. They claimed refugee status, and many settled in Montreal and Toronto.
  • In 1987, 174 people, most of them Indian Sikhs, waded ashore in a small community in Nova Scotia. Many of them went to Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

The Chinese also have the right to claim refugee status. More will be known after they meet with immigration officials. If the Chinese do apply for status, Redmond says it could take up to two years for their appeals to go through the board.

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