Migrants say they rioted because they
were refused dinner in detention
VANCOUVER (CP) - Chinese migrants smashed almost all the
windows, broke doors and lit small fires in a detention
facility Monday because they were refused dinner the previous
evening, says an advocate who met with them.
"The first thing that came up was that they were not served
dinner Sunday night and that they were locked down and they
didn't know why," said Victor Wong of the Vancouver
Association of Chinese Canadians.
"Something had to have happened before they go out and
break windows," said Wong, who also spoke to the RCMP and
officials at the Alouette River Correctional Centre in
suburban Maple Ridge.
Wong, who has been advocating on the migrants' behalf for
the past year, said the migrants asked that he come to the
facility Monday while the riot was continuing.
Many of the migrants have been in detention for 10 months
since their illegal arrival on British Columbia's shores last
summer in four rusty boats.
Wong said tensions began bubbling to the surface after 90
people were deported back to China's Fujian province last
month after immigration authorities denied their refugee
claims.
"But the trigger was their specific treatment on Sunday
evening when they were denied dinner."
Sheldon Green, a B.C. Corrections spokesman, said 17 people
in a unit of 49 migrants refused to eat dinner Sunday evening.
"As a result of that, a decision was made to lock the whole
house down."
Another 31 migrants in another unit of the all-male
medium-security facility east of Vancouver were not involved
in the incident and were served dinner, Green said.
The 49 migrants who were locked down were transferred to
two maximum security facilities.
About $6,000 in damage resulted from the riot, Green said,
adding he doesn't know if charges will be laid.
"Pretty well every window was gone in the dorm unit, two
doors were damaged severely, one was slightly damaged and one
toilet was damaged."
Migrants have the option of filing formal complaints with
the help of on-site interpreters if they have concerns about
how they're being treated, Green said.
However, Wong said the migrants told him they're afraid to
file complaints.
Wong said he believes all the migrants have been denied
refugee status.
Lois Reimer, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration
Canada, said 100 of 270 people at four detention facilities in
the Vancouver area have exhausted the refugee claim process
and will be deported back to China.
"We are currently working with the Chinese authorities to
get approval to return them to China," Reimer said.
But she wouldn't say if the 49 rioters are among those
slated to be returned.
The majority of the remaining 170 detainees whose claims
have been denied have appealed to the Federal Court for a
review, she said.
Others have applied to the Immigration Department for a
risk review, saying their lives would be endangered if they
were forced to go back to China, Reimer said.
Federal Immigration Minster Elinor Caplan said Tuesday she
understands why the migrants wouldn't want to leave Canada.
"But I am determined, after due process has been exhausted
in Canada, that individuals that are inadmissible and not
eligible to remain in Canada be removed as quickly as
possible," Caplan said.
Meanwhile, British Columbia's Attorney General Andrew
Petter has ordered an independent investigation into the riot.
The Investigations Inspections and Standards office is to
make recommendations to Petter's ministry.
The office is an independent arm of the ministry and is
expected to issue its report in the next few weeks.
Corrections B.C. is also conducting its own investigation.
It's the second time this month that Petter has ordered an
investigation into incidents at detention facilities housing
Chinese migrants.
Last week, seven detainees escaped from the Prince George
Regional Correctional Centre about 500 kilometres north of
Vancouver.
Police subsequently captured the escapees.
Some 600 migrants arrived on the West Coast between last
July and September.
The Immigration Review Board has rejected about 400 refugee
claims, while 113 migrants have been returned to China.
Canadawide arrest warrants have been issued for 95 migrants
who disappeared after being released into the community.
© The Canadian Press, 2000