The National Post (Canada) October 11, 2001

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A moratorium on refugee landings is vital for Canada

Diane Francis

Over the weekend, 50 Afghanis and Pakistanis without any identification flew into Toronto's Pearson International Airport and were released automatically after they uttered the magical R-word -- refugee.

No security checks were done on them because the RCMP and CSIS are overworked chasing leads from police forces around the world about terrorists in our midst. (The Lliberals have gutted the RCMP, having cut the number of officers to 16,000 from 20,000.)

Allowing 50 strangers into our country -- and therefore North America -- is beyond comprehension, coming as it does after the Americans announced the possibility of retaliatory attacks by followers of terrorist chief Osama bin Laden. Canada could be a target.

They were released even though no one knows who they are. No one knows where they are now. No one knows if they have AIDS or TB. No one knows if they have criminal records or are wanted by police forces elsewhere. No one knows if they are violent, or heroin dealers or petty thieves.

Elinor Caplan, the Immigration Minister, is a joke, but not the only one. The Prime Minister and his Liberals ignore the facts and mislead the world into thinking Canada is fixing its border problems. I dread what will happen if another terrorist, like the one from Montreal, succeeds in mounting an attack south of the border from the safety of north of the border.

Because Ottawa cannot manage a pop stand, there should be a moratorium on all immigration and refugee landings for at least a year until 27,000 existing deportation orders and thousands of other arrest warrants and hearing notices are executed.

"Canada is awash in unexecuted warrants against immigrants and refugees," said a Vancouver police detective.

As for the bunch that arrived this weekend, send them back to Europe, where their flights originated. These people are defrauding our immigration system by claiming they have no identification. This is a lie because they could never have boarded an international flight without credentials.

Of course, letting 50 people into the country without a question being asked is nothing new for Ms. Caplan. In 1999, she let in 3,000 Afghanis and Somalians by special ministerial decree, even though nobody knew, or knows, their true identities or whereabouts.

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A Financial Post reader, from Pakistan, called me this week to alert Canadians to another scam by a ring operating out of Cornwall, Ont., and Montreal.

The group has funnelled hundreds of Pakistani undesirables into the United States and Canada.

"The hardworking ones go to the States but the lazy ones stay here because Canada gives anybody welfare for life," said the source who asked me not to use his name.

The scam could have been averted easily.

"When someone is given permission to immigrate to Canada, they are issued a card, called the IMM 1000, which is attached to their passport. This gets them into the country. It is a piece of paper without a photograph. It has the person's name and date of birth," he said.

There is a black market for the IMM 1000, he said. Certain Montreal convenience stores run by Pakistanis pay $2,500 per card, then sell them to an organized crime group in Islamabad, where persons with matching gender and age attach them to a phoney passport bearing the same name.

"Anyone can bribe someone to get a fake passport in Islamabad. The criminals do this for you and charge US$25,000 per person, which includes the flight and training as to how to handle immigration officials at airports."

"Most of them get into the States through Canada because it's so easy to get in here. What some do is fly via Los Angeles or JFK in New York City, show the Canadian immigration document, then pretend to be tired from their journey. They ask permission to stay the night before going to Toronto, which is the usual final destination. The Americans let them go often and they disappear. If they cannot talk their way into staying, they fly on to Toronto or Montreal and are smuggled into the U.S. at Cornwall by the ring."

Most of those who are smuggled in can afford to pay the US$25,000 because they are "rich" heroin dealers or criminals or corrupt government officials.

"I appreciate what you are trying to do, which is why I called you. This is an abuse of the system and it should be stopped. I'm very upset about it. This has been going on since 1991," he said. "It's very bad for Canada and the U.S."

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2001

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Canadians love all mankind and our borders are open to everyone. Aren't we great?

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2001