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Monday June 12 11:37 PM ET
VANCOUVER (CP) - Dozens of Chinese migrants smashed windows and set small fires Monday at the detention facility where they've been held since arriving illegally in Canada last summer.
Sheldon Green, a B.C. Corrections spokesman, said 49 migrants housed in one unit at the Alouette River Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge began to riot around 8 a.m. The disturbance ended about 7:30 p.m. after the protesters talked to Victor Wong of the Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians, Green said.
Wong has been an advocate for the migrants for the last year.
"They wanted him brought in to hear their grievances," Green said. "We arranged for that to occur."
Green said the 49 people involved then agreed to be transferred to the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre and the Surrey Pre-Trial Centre, two maximum-security provincial jails.
The migrants seemed to be concerned with the length of time they have been held in custody and the prospect of being sent back to China, he said.
There was no damage estimate yet, Green said, but all the unit's windows and some of the plumbing was damaged.
There was no apparent damage from the superficial fires the migrants lit, he said.
Earlier, as violent outbursts by migrants escalated, authorities locked the unit down.
By mid-afternoon what Green described as "sporadic disturbances" had stopped and face-to-face and telephone negotiations began.
There were no large fires and food was made available to the migrants, although toilet facilities were not working.
"It's serious . . . but it couldn't be described as a . . . general riot where everyone is involved," Green said.
Eighty-two migrants are being housed at the medium-security facility in Maple Ridge, east of Vancouver.
Green said tensions seemed to rise after officials sent other Chinese migrants back to China last month. All are among 600 migrants who arrived last summer aboard four decrepit cargo ships.
"Starting with the repatriation of the 90 that were removed from Canada by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, we certainly noticed a deterioration in the overall conduct of these people - less co-operative, less willing to follow instructions," Green said.
"Over the last couple of weeks . . . that's escalated."
"We suspect part of their concern, probably the very real part of their concern, is that they all recognize, too, that . . . after spending 10 months plus in jail in B.C. they will soon be returned to China."
Additional guards were brought into Alouette River from the nearby Fraser Correctional Centre, including B.C. Corrections' tactical response team.
B.C. Corrections would not say how many extra guards were sent in. Officials also wouldn't say how many guards normally patrol each housing unit.
Green said guards left the housing unit after the riot began. Only migrants are being held in the unit involved in the disturbance.
The unit involved has three 17-bed dormitories, a shared kitchen and a common area.
The prison has several such units, each separate.
There were no injuries during the disturbance.
Green said there will be a full investigation to find out how the disturbance began.
There have been an increasing number of incidents involving Chinese migrants in recent months.
Eight migrants of 168 being held at a mothballed provincial jail in Prince George, B.C., have escaped in recent weeks. All were recaptured.
There have been allegations of jailhouse beatings and human rights violations by prisoners, but none have been confirmed by independent investigations.
Migrant advocates say several people have attempted suicide, frustrated that they are still in detention as the first anniversary of their arrival approaches.
Last November, 84 men at the Maple Ridge facility took part in a hunger strike. They were among 400 provincewide that refused to eat last fall in protest of their treatment.
More than 30 teenaged migrants have disappeared from the care of the provincial Ministry for Children and Families.
Of the 590 Chinese migrants who arrived in British Columbia last summer, about 400 have already had their claims for refugee status rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board.
Of those, 113 have been returned to China.
There are Canadawide arrest warrants out for 95 migrants from the first boat who were released into the community and subsequently disappeared.
It is believed they made their way across the border to the United States, the final destination of most illegal Chinese migrants to Canada. © The Canadian Press, 2000
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