PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA - MIGRATION IN 1999

Amidst major events that occupied the civil and political life of China in 1999 migration might not appear very important.  As China celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule, the rest of the world also remembered the tenth anniversary of the suppression of protest at Tiannamen Square. Controversies erupted with the United States over the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade and with Taiwan over the request of state-to-state relations. The religious movement Falun Gong was harshly crushed, while problems concerning Tibet emerged from time to time. On the economic front, growth was mostly fueled by public spending while the agreement with the US on conditions for China’s entry into the WTO was saluted as a major achievement. Although migration might appear minor against this backdrop, in fact it occupied a frequent mention in international newspapers, mostly in relation to episodes of irregular migration.

Smuggling of migrants out of China has been going on for some years. Most migrants come from the Fujan province, while North America has always been the favorite destination. What gained prominence in 1999 were several boats of Chinese immigrants landing in British Colombia between July and August. The first carried 123 migrants, including 13 teenage boys, while 130 were dumped from a second boat trying to avoid capture and had to swim to the shore. By the end of the year, approximately 600 had landed and claimed asylum. Claimants reported they paid approximately US$40,000 each to “snakeheads” who had promised to take them to Canada aboard luxury liners. The episodes sparked debate over Canada’s laws concerning application to refugee status. Claimants are entitled to a thorough process, which could last up to two years, and are entitled to collect C$500 a month welfare money. Approximately 50 percent of applicants are eventually granted asylum, compared to an international average of 13 percent. Of the 23,838 who applied for refugee status in 1998, 12,884 succeeded. However, majority of those rejected either remain in the country or enter the US. The government revealed it expected to shoulder C$52 million for the accommodation and processing of 421who were detained. Of the 86 released from the first boat, 76 were issued arrest orders, while thirteen of the 133 minors had disappeared. In the meantime, a new route from China to Canada via the Dominican Republic, where passports are sold for US$20,000, was discovered in December, when eleven Chinese were caught posing as businessmen.

Smuggling gangs took Chinese migrants from the province of Fujan also to other destinations, such as Australia and Guam. By the end of April already 1,441 Chinese had bee deported from Australia, while officials were expecting perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 migrants from China to try to enter Guam and the Mariana Islands. This prompted Australian officials to discuss strategies with counterpart Chinese authorities to curb smuggling operations. Chinese authorities revealed in May that 2,975 migrants had left China irregularly in the first four months. Irregular Chinese migrants were caught in Panama and Guatemala, 61 were granted temporary residence in Guadeloupe, while 226 trying to go abroad through Cambodia were deported. The use of Cambodia as a transit point for irregular migration became the object of discussion between the two governments. The various episodes indicate that Chinese migrants figure prominently in irregular migration toward various destinations in the world. It is an exit organized by smugglers who have turned it into a profitable enterprise, since migrants remain bonded for years after successfully reaching the foreign destination.

The return of Macau to China, ending the Portuguese colonial rule, did not generate the same level of attention experienced in Hong Kong, nor is the current situation as a Special Administrative Region creating the same controversies witnessed in Hong Kong over the right of abode. Only one demonstration occurred over the failure of 100 children of mainland parents to get permission to study and stay in Macau.  Undoubtedly, however, the National People’s Congress would intervene, if needed, as it happened in Hong Kong.