Two
buses brought 90 Chinese migrants to Abbotsford, B.C. Wednesday.
Once there, they were put on a plane bound for China.
The migrants had been
detained in Prince George, British Columbia, pending refugee
hearings. The immigration department said those hearings were
completed and none of these people qualified for refugee status.
So they're being deported.
The migrants were among the 600 people who were smuggled into
Canada last summer. They came in four rusty boats from Fujian
province in China.
officials escort the deportees
|
Sheldon Green, of the B.C. Corrections Branch, confirmed the
buses left the Prince George detention centre around midnight on
Tuesday and headed to Vancouver.
No other details were released about what Green called a
repatriation move. Green disputed reports that unhappy migrants
became destructive at the centre before they left on the 10-hour
drive.
There are 347 migrants still in custody. Refugee hearings
continue.