NEW IMMIGRATION RULES WILL TARGET DRUG-DEALERS

Vancouver's mayor hopes the measures will help reduce drug trade in the
city.

OTTAWA -- Tough federal legislation will curb the abuse of Canada's refugee
system by urban drug-dealers, including young Hondurans operating in the
Lower Mainland, Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said Friday.

While the bill isn't targeting specific groups, she said stronger measures
will deal with the deep involvement of young Honduran refugee applicants in
the Lower Mainland drug trade.

"Absolutely, this legislation I think deals effectively with that concern,"
Caplan said. "This legislation will say to anyone, whether they're from
Honduras or anywhere around the world, 'Don't come here and do that.' "

In a recent police crackdown in the Lower Mainland, 63 of 157 people wanted
by police for drug dealing were refugee claimants, most from Honduras.

The number of Honduran refugee claims made in Vancouver has jumped from 37
in 1996 to 257 last year.

The bill would bar anyone with a serious criminal record from making a
refugee claim, and those claimants without a record will have their refugee
applications frozen if they are charged in Canada with a criminal offence.

Their refugee status application won't resume until the court case is
concluded, and conviction would lead to removal from the country.

And if the applicant is charged a second time, the federal government will
use the new legislation to argue that the person is involved in organized
crime and should be detained until the conclusion of their trial.

Under the current system, some refugee applicants have been charged numerous
times without being detained. And all claimants facing criminal charges are
able to continue their claims unless they are found guilty.

If they get refugee status before being found guilty of a criminal offence,
it is more difficult for them to be removed, Caplan said.

"This is excellent," said Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen when told Friday of
the measures. "It's a step in the right direction and I hope it's
effective."

Owen said a recent police crackdown resulted in one would-be refugee being
arrested five times between Dec. 9 and Jan. 12. He described the abuse of
Canada's refugee system by refugee applicants as a "huge" problem.

Caplan also confirmed that a first boatload of smuggled migrants from China
could arrive in B.C. as early as this month, when she is in China to expand
the government's battle against people-smuggling.

The federal government's plan for tougher laws, closer cooperation with
foreign governments, and more money for interdiction efforts won't put an
end the refugee problem, she said.

"I don't want to suggest it's going to happen overnight," she told The
Vancouver Sun. "But once this act is in place and it's been tested, I think
it will be a terrific deterrent and an important deterrent, so that we will
start to see behaviours change."

Caplan said the government hasn't ruled out the establishment of a new
refugee detention facility in B.C. to deal with the higher number of
detained refugees.

The new bill is intended to speed up the refugee determination process, deny
access to the system for serious criminals, and send a message to
people-smugglers by making the maximum sentence for the offence of life and
prison, a $1-million fine, or both.