canada, canadian search engine, free email, canada news
Web Search
News Finance Sports Shopping Careers Autos
Avoid the crowded parking lots. Shop from home in our canada.com Shopping Mall
National Post
Headlines
World
National
Sports
Business
Entertainment
CP
Headlines
World
National
Business
Technology
Sports
Hockey
Baseball
Football
Basketball
Entertainment
Health
Agriculture
Français
Nationales
Monde
Finance
Technologie
Sport
Arts
Santé
Reuters
Headlines
World
National
Sports
Business
Internet
Reuters Story
Canada Sends 90 Illegal 'Boat People' Back To China

By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Canada staged one of the largest mass deportations in the country's recent history Wednesday, returning 90 ``boat people'' who entered the country illegally from China last summer.

The deportees, including four children, were detained in Canada after being denied refugee status and were returned under an agreement with Chinese authorities, Canadian officials said.

``It is this kind of co-operation that shows our two countries are concerned about human smuggling,'' said Murray Wilkinson, an enforcement official with Citizenship and Immigration Canada in Vancouver.

Wilkinson refused to say where in China the refugees were being sent. They were loaded under heavy security on to a chartered aircraft at a small airport in Abbotsford, British Columbia, near Vancouver.

The 90 were among nearly 600 Chinese who were detained after arriving illegally in ships on Canada's Pacific Coast last summer. Wednesday's action brings to 113 the number of boat people deported.

Canadian authorities are expecting more human smuggling this summer but said Wednesday's action was not prompted by a desire to make space available in detention centers where the people are held pending refugee hearings.

The smuggling ships -- usually dilapidated, cramped fishing vessels -- are believed to be operated by Asian criminal gangs who charge people up to C$60,000 ($40,000) to sneak them into North America.

Although the boats landed in Canada, it is believed most of the illegal immigrants were eventually bound for the United States where the gangs force them to work off the cost of their journey in conditions bordering on slavery.

Canada and China agreed to crack down on the human smugglers, known as ``snakeheads,'' during a visit to Beijing last month by Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan.

Wednesday's deportation was denounced by the Chinese-Canadian Association in Vancouver, which accused immigration officials of using ``paramilitary'' tactics to remove the boat people from detention facilities in the middle of the night.

Officials had initially tried to keep the deportation secret until the airplane was loaded, and cited security concerns for not disclosing the destination in China.

Canada said it did not know what would happen to the boat people when they were back in China, but said it had received assurances from Chinese authorities the four children being returned would not be detained.


Home  News  Finance  Sports  Shopping  Careers  Autos  Free E-mail  Search  Directory Search
Business Finder  People Finder  Lotteries  Horoscopes  TV Listings  Movie Listings  Weather  Features  Contests  Presents  About Us  Contact Us  Advertise  Newsletter  Affiliates  Privacy Policy  FAQ  Site Map 



Copyright © 2000 Southam Inc. All rights reserved. Optimized for browser versions 4.0 and higher
"canada.com is a division of Southam Inc., Canada's largest publisher of daily newspapers"