In
Vancouver, several groups helping Chinese migrants with their
refugee claims are accusing Canadian authorities of bias against the
claimants who arrived on smuggling ships last summer.
They're calling for an
independent review of the refugee hearing process.
They say many migrants have received poor legal advice, and
others have been treated unfairly.
Indeed, from the moment their four boats arrived off the B.C.
coast, the Chinese migrants have been treated differently than other
refugee claimants.
First, they were all held in custody in a military gym. Then,
instead of being let go until their refugee hearings, most were
locked up in jails. And they jumped the queue, having their refugee
claims heard ahead of thousands of other applicants.
Immigration lawyer Zool Sooleman wonders why all the special
treatment.
"The only urgency that we can see is that these are Chinese
migrants who have received enormous media attention and who now have
to be put through the system to justify a get-tough policy,"
Sooleman told CBC News.
He and colleague Victor Wong believe part of that get-tough
policy involves denying the migrants adequate legal representation.
The B.C. legal aid system has asked lawyers to bid on contracts
to represent 25 migrants at a time, a move Sooleman calls "treating
these people like cattle."
"It's an auction bid. They're being raced through the bottom of
the system. It's discriminatory and should be stopped right now."
Wong's group worries that panel members who rule on the claims
aren't taking enough time to make their decisions -- often giving a
verbal ruling within 30 minutes.
Add it all up, say the critics, and it appears the Canadian
government is trying to deny the migrants due process.
The manager of the immigration and refugee board, Lynn Gates,
says that's nonsense.
"I'm sure I can state unequivocally that the politics surrounding
this issue has nothing to do with the decisions on a day-to-day
basis," Gates told CBC News.
As well, legal aid officials say they've had no complaints from
any of the migrants about the quality of their legal representation.
But critics are unlikely to be satisfied until the immigration
and refugee board starts handing down some decisions in favour of
the migrants.
The board has settled 76 refugee claims -- all either rejected or
abandoned.
In all those cases, the panel members didn't believe the stories
the migrants told about facing persecution at home in China.
