The Chinese illegal migrants thought they had
                 arrived in the US

                 VANCOUVER -- A group of 25 Chinese stowaways
                 who thought they were in the United States when they
                 were detained at a Canadian port have requested
                 refugee status in Canada, according to an official here.

                 The authorities, acting on a tip from the US, discovered
                 the men in two containers on a ship in Vancouver last
                 Monday.

                 The containers from Hongkong were bound for Seattle,
                 but the ship was diverted to Vancouver because of a
                 lack of space in Seattle.

                 "They've all made claims for refugee status," said
                 Citizenship and Immigration Canada spokesman Janis
                 Harper.

                 The Canadian authorities said the stowaways, including
                 four juveniles, believed they had arrived in the US when
                 they were detained.

                 US authorities asked Canada to search the ship after
                 earlier discovering stowaways in containers at Seattle
                 and Long Beach, California.

                 All of the containers were listed as carrying machinery
                 from Lap Kei Trading Co in Hongkong.

                 US and Canadian officials fear smugglers have switched
                 to using containers to ship human cargo after authorities
                 began intercepting dilapidated fishing boats used to carry
                 people across the Pacific.

                 A detention hearing was scheduled yesterday for the 25
                 illegal migrants.

                 Meanwhile, across the border, four people were jailed
                 on Thursday for trying to smuggle about 150 illegal
                 immigrants from China into the US by sea, under
                 inhumane and unsanitary conditions.

                 Chen Biao, Li Xiang Feng, Lin Hui and Tu Yu Piao
                 were sentenced to terms ranging from three years and
                 10 months to nearly six years, said Assistant US
                 Attorney John Gomez.

                 All four were convicted on alien smuggling charges last
                 June. Tu is a Taiwanese and the others are Chinese
                 nationals. -- Reuters,AFP

                      Adapted from The Straits Times, 9 Jan 2000.