Family claims refugee status on Ontario shore
Last Updated: Thursday, August 19, 2010 | 4:44 PM ET
CBC News
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A family of migrants claiming refugee status has been arrested trying to enter Canada by boat on Lake Erie.
Police in Amherstburg, Ont., about 30 kilometres from Windsor, arrested five people Wednesday afternoon.
Residents near Amherst Point in the town of about 20,000 saw the family arrive by boat around 4 p.m. Wednesday and called police.
The two adults — a 48-year-old woman, 50-year-old man — along with three children, ranging in age from seven to 11, were walking on Lakewood Road when police apprehended them.
The adults claimed they paid $2,000 to be transported by boat from Michigan, where they had been living for more than six years.
Police said the family told them they were from Kosovo.
The migrants immediately claimed refugee status and were taken to the police station, then handed over to officers from the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency.
Amherstburg police said this is the second time this summer where officers have apprehended individuals trying to illegally enter Canada by boat near the community. Two months ago, they picked up a pair of Albanian nationals.
The community is a target for illegal entry because it is only a four-minute boat ride from the U.S.
