Asian Tribune 28 January 2022

English Page
Issue 299 (2) Asian Tribune January 28, 2022
Family of four who froze to death
has sent shock waves World over
(Continued ..Page1)
thinking about the pain
they might have
experienced in freezing
cold temperatures gives
us goosebumps.”
While the Patel family
includes a 12-year-old
daughter, the RCMP
originally said the older
child was a male in their
mid-teens. The original
information, however, was
based on an initial exam
in austere conditions and
could change after the
post-mortem exam.
The remains of the four
would have been exposed
to severe cold for about
16 hours before discovery,
hampering examination
and identification. The
RCMP said investigators
need to have “100 per
cent certainty” on
identification, and notified
their next of kin, before
releasing identity
information.
The family was a
demographic anomaly
within the group of
migrants.
The others are all in their
late teens and early 20s,
said Chief Patrol Agent
Anthony S. Good, of the
U.S. Border Patrol’s
Grand Forks Sector,
whose officers rescued
them in blizzard
conditions on Jan. 19.
“It’s terrible to experience
those conditions for that
length of time. There is an
unreasonable expectation
for survival at that point,”
Good said. The group was
wandering aimlessly
when agents spotted
them in a search, after a
driver, allegedly in the
area to pick them up, was
arrested.
“They were walking, but it
was hard to see anything.
They were a little bit
disoriented and didn’t
really know which way to
go. They didn’t think the
trek would be that
arduous.”
Two of the migrants who
made it needed medical
assistance. One was
taken by helicopter to
hospital but has survived.
They were all turned over
to immigration officials.
The rest of the group told
U.S. officials of “a similar
travel agenda” to the Patel
family, as described by
Indian media, Good said.
Relatives and neighbours
of the Patels said the
family left for Canada on
a visitor’s visa about a
week before the migrants
were found. The family is
said to have paid the
equivalent of about $1,000
to an immigration agent to
get them to the United
States.
Documents filed in court
in the case against the
alleged driver, Steve
Shand, 47, of Deltona,
Fla., disclose that U.S.
authorities are
investigating a human
smuggling ring in the
area.
It seems a twice-monthly
cross-border operation for
Indian nationals, with
someone dropping the
migrants off on the
Canadian side with winter
clothing and sending them
south, where someone is
expected to pick them up.
The Border Patrol said
officers are aware of three
earlier smuggling
incidents in the same
area.
Footprints in the snow
made by the same make
of boots worn by the
rescued migrants were
discovered by border
officers on Dec. 12, Dec.
22, 2021, and on Jan. 12.
After the Dec. 12 incident,
U.S. officers spoke with
RCMP officers and were
told that Canadian
authorities found a
backpack at what
appeared to be a drop-off
point inside Canada. A tag
inside showed a price in
rupees, the currency of
India.
The van driven by Shand
also contained a rental
agreement for a “full size
passenger van” from Jan.
10 to Jan. 13. On Jan. 12,
a border patrol officer found
more boot prints in the
snow stretching into the
U.S. from Canada, also
by the same brand of
boots.
Cpl. Julie Courchaine, a
spokeswoman with
Manitoba RCMP, declined
to confirm the RCMP is
part of a wider
investigation into human
smuggling.
“We are looking at
everything involved in
this,” she said. “The
investigation is ongoing,”
including close
cooperation with U.S.
authorities.
The deaths are sparking
debate in India, with hard
questions on why so
many are willing to risk so
much to leave.
Newspaper accounts say
the village of Dingucha and
others like it are filled with
advertisements and
enticements for
immigration to Canada,
the U.S., Britain and
Australia. Many make
unrealistic promises of
admission to Canadian
universities, even without
a language certificate.
The ads target the young,
who dream of living abroad
as a marker of success.
Judging by the age of the
travellers who survived the
trek last week, the ads are
hitting their mark.
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