The first six bodies were discovered on Thursday in a marshy area of the Akwesasne Indian reserve, whose territory borders Quebec, Ontario and the United States. They were near an overturned boat belonging to a missing man from that community.
« The six people appear to be from two families, one of Romanian origin and the other of Indian nationality “said Lee-Ann O’Brien, deputy chief of the local police, during a press conference this Friday morning. Among them, a child under 3 years old. ” We believe they were trying to illegally enter the United States from Canada », said Lee-Ann O’Brien. An autopsy and toxicological analyzes were underway to determine the cause of death.
At the end of the afternoon, the local police indicated during a press briefing that they had discovered two new remains: that of a woman of Indian origin, and that of a child of Romanian origin, who may be the holder of a a Canadian passport, report it Montreal Journal. The owner of the boat was still wanted.
An increase in the number of crossings to the United States
This incident comes just eight days after the closure of the Roxham Road, through which hundreds of migrants passed daily between the United States and Quebec. A road that is about a hundred kilometers from the Akwesasne reserve, specifies our correspondent in Quebec, Pascale Guericolas. In March, a smuggler was sentenced to five years in prison for smuggling Indians across in a boat at the same location. The passengers weren’t wearing life jackets and couldn’t swim.
The Indigenous Community Police said they had recently seen a “ increase in the number of people passing through Akwesasne to enter the United States », with 48 crossings since the beginning of the year.
Two people have already died this year trying to enter the United States illegally from Canada. The two countries reached an agreement on handling the growing problem of illegal immigration along their border during President Joe Biden’s visit to Ottawa last week. The agreement provides that undocumented asylum seekers crossing the border into Canada will be turned back, while Ottawa will accept more migrants in return.
This agreement has been strongly criticized by associations defending the rights of migrants, who believe that it poses more risks to people who try to cross the border illegally.
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(And with AFP)
