Posted by admin on Aug 13th, 2010
John Ibbitson, Steven Chase and Marten Youssef. Globe and Mail. Friday, Aug. 13, 2010 12:34PM EDT
Senior figures within the Conservative government are working to craft new tools that would treat boatloads of illegal immigrants arriving on Canada’s shores differently from other refugee claimants. These plans are being hatched as Canadian authorities Thursday took control of a ship of nearly 500 illegal Tamil immigrants off the west coast of British Columbia – a passenger list the Tories say includes suspected human smugglers and terrorists. The MV Sun Sea was boarded Thursday night just after 9 pm EDT by the Canadian military, the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency staff. They took control of the ship, which was to be taken to CFB Esquimalt just west of Victoria.
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Posted by admin on Aug 7th, 2010
By Josué Olmos, 7 August 2010, WSWS.org
In July, over 60 migrants died in the deserts of Arizona while trying to cross into the country from Mexico. Fifty-nine bodies of those who died were found in the state’s three south-central counties—Pima, Santa Cruz, and Pinal. This is the highest number of migrant deaths along this stretch of the US-Mexico border since July 2005, and the second highest on record. The Pima County Medical Examiner’s office (PCME), which handles bodies found in the three counties, has reportedly received the bodies of over 150 migrants so far this year, and over 1,650 since 2001. The PCME reported so many bodies this summer that its facilities—which can hold up to 200 bodies—are full. The agency has brought in a 55-foot refrigerated trailer to house the additional bodies. On the deadliest single day in July, 7 bodies were brought into the PCME’s office.
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Posted by admin on Apr 9th, 2010
By ALISON KORN, QMI Agency, April 9, 2010 11:31am
The head of the organizing committee for the 17th World University Cross Country Championship is “disappointed and embarrassed” by the fact that runners from several countries have been denied visas to the event, to be held April 11 in Kingston. Athletes and officials from China, Sri Lanka and Nepal have been told by Citizenship and Immigration Canada that they won’t be allowed to enter Canada because there’s a risk they may not return home afterwards. Tajikistan’s team has been denied visas because they competed in the Asian Athletics Championships, an IAAF-sanctioned event in Iran. Five other countries are still waiting to hear.
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Posted by admin on Apr 7th, 2010
Jay Fletcher, April 7, 2010, Socialist Alliance
As the Coalition strives to make “border control” a vote-changing issue and the Rudd government continues to claim its approach is best at keeping the “people smugglers” and the “queue-jumpers” under control, do we face the dark prospect of another refugee-bashing federal election? As things stand, it looks likely. Labor agrees with the Coalition that asylum seeker boats reaching Australian waters pose a genuine problem of national security. So why wouldn’t Tony Abbott and Co. maintain their current offensive about the “unprecedented flood of illegal arrivals” up until election time?
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Posted by admin on Mar 15th, 2010
Mark Dodd, The Australian, March 15, 2010 12:00AM
IMMIGRATION detention on Christmas Island has almost reached bursting point, with the arrival on Saturday of the 24th asylum-seeker boat this year. The 35 asylum-seekers on the boat intercepted northwest of Christmas Island are understood to be Afghans, and there were two Indonesian crew on board. All have been taken to Christmas Island. There are now only 151 spare beds for a facility designed for 800 but now accommodating 2042 people. This year 1121 asylum-seekers have arrived and 64 crew members have been arrested.
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