Bordercrossers face blizzard in Manitoba

Nineteen asylum-seekers braved a fierce blizzard and whiteout conditions on the open prairie to cross into Canada near the Manitoba border community of Emerson, the area’s reeve said Wednesday.

“It was not pretty out here. Some heavy snow squalls, zero visibility, and these people are walking north straight into the wind,” Greg Janzen said.

“I think they walked almost right through Emerson without knowing they were here.”

Two people were found Tuesday night, Janzen said, and the other 17 were discovered huddled together shortly after sunrise in a carport at an old golf course.

Winds were gusting up to 80 kilometres an hour overnight, which created a wind chill of -28 C. Visibility was so poor, highways in the area were closed until early Wednesday morning.

An ambulance managed to get through, Janzen said, and one person who had an injured arm was tended to. Like others who have walked across the border this year, the refugee claimants were taken by RCMP for processing by border agents.

More than 200 people have walked across open fields and through ditches near Emerson since Jan. 1 — part of a growing number that have also crossed the border near Hemmingford. Que., and other communities.

Many of those making the journey are originally from African nations such as Somalia and Ghana and fear deportation from the United States under toughened immigration laws.

They cross fields and ditches instead of at official border posts because of the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country agreement. Under the agreement, people who have made refugee claims first in the U.S. are turned back at official Canadian entry points, but it does not apply to people who get onto Canadian soil first.

“If you’ve ever been in a Prairie blizzard, you know that is very, very risky,” Goodale said Wednesday. “Who organized this, this movement, and did they actually contemplate letting people out on a roadside in the middle of a Prairie blizzard?

“I think we’ll want to explore the factors that lead to that kind of potentially dangerous behaviour.”

Canada and the U.S. must come to an understanding of who the migrants are, how and why they are making these journeys and how the situation might evolve in the days and weeks ahead, Goodale said.

“I think in this first conversation, it will be very important to ensure that we’ve got a common fact base. We also obviously have a great deal of care and attention directed toward the safety factors.”

The discussions Friday will also focus on traveller screening, immigration policy and visa issues, Goodale’s office said.