May 11, 2000
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90 illegal migrants deported to China
Escorted to plane under armed guard; hundreds remain
By Dene Moore Canadian Press
VANCOUVER - Ninety Chinese
migrants were put aboard a plane yesterday under armed guard to
return to their homeland.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada tried to quietly handle the
deportation of 75 men, 11 women and four children who were among
almost 600 migrants to arrive illegally off the West Coast last
summer.
``We don't want our officers and we don't want
the people being removed to be placed at any risk,'' Murray
Wilkinson, the acting manager of the department's Vancouver
enforcement office, said at a hastily called news conference.
Migrants were given little warning about their departure.
``We can't let any of these people escape,'' Wilkinson said.
It was the largest deportation of the migrants since their
arrival in four decrepit boats beginning last July.
So far, 113 of those migrants have been returned to China.
About 20 immigration officers boarded a government-chartered
plane in Abbotsford, B.C., to accompany the migrants to an
undisclosed location in China. Abbotsford police were asked to
provide armed support.
Yesterday's removal comes on the heels of Immigration Minister
Elinor Caplan's visit to China last month where she discussed human
smuggling with Chinese officials.
Close to 400 Chinese migrants had been in custody in B.C. since
the boats carrying passengers from China's Fujian province arrived
last summer.
Almost all the migrants made refugee claims. Few have been
accepted.
More than 300 claims have been rejected and there are about 50
more migrants awaiting travel documents from China in order to be
deported.
`Removals a key part' of
Ottawa's strategy against human smuggling
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Caplan told reporters in Ottawa yesterday the deportation should
send a clear message to human smugglers.
``They're not going to win. Removals are a key part of this whole
situation,'' Caplan said.
``When I went to China I spoke directly to the most senior
officials in the Chinese government to discuss the importance of
getting travel documents expeditiously. We've received them and
we're moving now as quickly as we can to see that people go home.''
At least one of the migrants was in tears yesterday.
But Wilkinson said many were relieved. ``Largely, they're ready
to go home,'' he said at a news conference. ``They've been in
custody now for quite a period of time and some of them are, in
fact, quite eager about returning to China.''
Jeff Gaulin, of B.C.'s Ministry for Children and Families, said
four children, the youngest 8 years old, were reunited with family
members to return home.
``The federal government did make a decision to return some of
the families to China,'' Gaulin said. ``We are reuniting the
children of those parents so they can return home as a family.''
Around midnight Tuesday night two buses loaded with migrants left
a mothballed jail in Prince George that has become an ad-hoc
immigration detention centre.
Sheldon Green, a spokesperson for B.C. Corrections, said some of
the migrants were upset but there were no disturbances at the
prison.
``Clearly there were some people who were unhappy, very few as a
matter of fact,'' Green said. ``But no disturbances, no general
destruction.
``You've got the odd person complaining but that's it.''
As of March 31, the bill for housing and processing the migrants
had run to $30 million. The cost of returning them to China is paid
by Ottawa.
Victor Wong of the Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians
called the deportation a ``paramilitary operation.''
``These people are not dangerous. They are not criminals,'' Wong
said outside the government office where officials made their
announcement.
``I think we had some other options for them,'' Wong said.
``Unfortunately, the Canadian government had chosen to forcibly
repatriate.
``It's purely a political decision.''
Wong said Canada should consider China's human rights record when
making a decision to send migrants home.
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