76 illegal migrants found on ship seized off B.C.

Barefoot, bare-chested individuals on board say destination was Canada

VICTORIA–Illegal migrants who were attempting to enter Canada off the northern coast of B.C. on board a rusty cargo ship were taken into custody by RCMP and immigration officials late Saturday after their vessel was tracked for at least two days after entering Canadian waters.

The merchant vessel called the Ocean Lady, with no visible numbers or flags flying, was seized and boarded by RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency Saturday afternoon.

Assistant RCMP Commissioner Al MacIntyre said that on Friday afternoon, the naval vessel HMCS Regina approached the Ocean Lady in waters near Port Renfrew and an armed emergency response team boarded it and took control.

Accompanied by a Canadian Forces helicopter and a navy frigate as well as two RCMP vessels, the Ocean Lady was guided into the cruise ship terminal of Ogden Point near downtown Victoria Saturday.

Late into the night, authorities were leading the migrants off the ship three at a time behind a blue tarp and under an umbrella to shield them.

All of the 76 migrants on board, officials said Saturday at a news conference, are men. The shadows of some of the migrants behind the tarp showed what appeared to be children being led off the cargo ship, which officials would not confirm.

In photos released by the RCMP and taken from a helicopter, a group of a few dozen men on the ship's deck, some bare-chested and others barefoot, are either waving to the camera or holding their arms up in surrender.

In Ottawa, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan told reporters that there were preliminary indications the ship originated in Sri Lanka though he added that information has not been confirmed.

"An RCMP emergency response team trained in maritime intervention boarded and took control of the vessel," Van Loan said.

"The CBSA is working with domestic and international partners to combat irregular migration to Canada, including smuggling and trafficking in persons," his office said in a statement Saturday.

The Regina and two RCMP vessels, the Higgitt and Lindsay, followed the vessel into the cruise ship terminal and the two RCMP vessels remained in position behind the Ocean Lady Saturday night as the migrants were led off.

From the set-up at the cruise ship terminal, it appears officials had advance notice of what was happening by setting up tents and tarps to shield the migrants. About a dozen Gray Line buses were waiting to transport the migrants after medical checkups and initial examinations that continued into the night.

All of the migrants appeared to be in good health, said Rob Johnston with the Canada Border Services Agency at a news conference outside the holding facility at the cruise ship terminal Saturday night.

"Even though we're satisfied, we are making arrangements for medical examinations as we process them through," he said.

The RCMP's Sgt. Duncan Pound with the Federal Border Integrity Program said in a statement that the 76 men said their intention was to reach Canada.

The ship is similar in size and condition to the four cargo ships that appeared in remote West Coast waters a decade ago carrying nearly 600 migrants from southern China. Many of them were children and teenagers whose parents had paid sums equivalent to 10 years' salaries to so-called "snakeheads."

Those migrants were kept at a gymnasium and at least 50 children were sent to group homes. But most of the adults' refugee claims were refused and they were ordered back to China.

While RCMP and border officials managed to intercept four of the vessels, at least two others managed to arrive off the northern coast of British Columbia without detection, delivering an unknown number of migrants before the ships were sunk.

Meanwhile, Saturday, 150 Sri Lankan asylum seekers whose boat was stopped in Indonesian waters en route to Australia ended their two-day hunger strike, officials said.

Indonesian authorities were trying to negotiate with the migrants – 255 men, women and children – who were intercepted in the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java islands on Oct. 11 as they headed to Australia in a wooden cargo boat.

(Toronto Star)