Indians' death in brutal cold: Canadian PM says working very closely' with US to stop smuggling
Toronto (PTI): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that his government was doing all it can and working very closely with the US to stop human smuggling, a day after a family of four Indians, including a baby, died from exposure to extreme cold weather on the Canadian side of the border with America.
Terming the incident as a "mind blowing" tragedy, Trudeau on Friday said that the Canadian government is doing all it can to stop people-smuggling across the US border.
It was an absolutely mind-blowing story. It's so tragic to see a family die like that, victims of human traffickers and of people who took advantage of their desire to build a better life, Trudeau told a news conference.
This is why we are doing all we can to discourage people from crossing the border in an irregular or illicit manner. We know there are great risks in doing so, he said.
The prime minister said that Canada was working very closely with the United States to stop smuggling and help people taking unacceptable risks .
According to Canadian officials, the incident was unusual as illegal migrants generally try to cross into Canada from America, rather than the other way round. Border crossings into Canada on foot increased in 2016 following the election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States.
On Thursday, the Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said that the bodies of four people two adults, a teen and an infant were found on the Canadian side of the US/Canada border near the Emerson locality in south central Manitoba on Wednesday.
The family, believed to be Gujaratis, died from the exposure to extreme cold weather. Confirming the nationality of the deceased, India's High Commissioner to Canada Ajay Bisaria described the incident as a grave tragedy.
"This is a grave tragedy. An Indian consular team is travelling today from @IndiainToronto to Manitoba to coordinate and help. We will work with Canadian authorities to investigate these disturbing events," Bisaria tweeted.
According to the criminal complaint filed in a court in the US state of Minnesota, all the foreign nationals found on the US side, part of the larger group, spoke in Gujarati.
Manitoba RCMP was notified by US Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday morning that a group of people had crossed into the US near Emerson, and that one of the adults was carrying items intended for a baby, but there was no infant with the group.
An immediate search began on both sides of the border, and by that afternoon, the bodies of an adult man, an adult woman, and an infant were found. The body of a boy believed to be in his mid-teens was found shortly afterwards.
The US Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said in a press release that 47-year-old Steve Shand of Florida has been arrested.
A criminal complaint has been filed on Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota against Shand, who has been charged with human smuggling.
Shand, a "suspected smuggler of undocumented foreign nationals , was arrested near the US/Canadian border on January 19 for transporting two Indian nationals, who were illegally present in the US. The two Indian nationals have been identified as SP' and YP' in the complaint.
The complaint said that five Indian nationals illegally present in the United States were also identified and arrested around the time of Shand's arrest.
Inside the vehicle, US officers found cases of plastic cups, bottled water, bottled juice and snacks in the van. As the officers were taking the trio back to the border patrol station in North Dakota, they came across another group of five Indian nationals walking.
They said they had walked across the border and had expected to be picked up by someone. The group said they estimated they had been walking for more than 11 hours.
One person in the group had a backpack he told officials he was carrying for a family of four they had become separated from that contained children's items such as clothes, a diaper and a toy.
The bodies found on the Canadian side of the border have been tentatively identified as that family of four, the release from the US Attorney's Office said.
Soon after the discovery of the four bodies on the Canadian side of the border, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Jane MacLatchy called it "an absolute and heartbreaking tragedy".
"At this very early stage of the investigation, it appears that they all died due to exposure to the cold weather," MacLatchy said, adding that the RCMP believe the four people are connected to the group that was apprehended on the US side of the border.
She said all four were located within 9-12 metres of the border.
MacLatchy said that the group was "on their own in the middle of a blizzard" and "faced not only the cold weather but endless fields, large snowdrifts and complete darkness".
Canadian police said the conditions where the four bodies were extreme and the temperature was 35 below zero degrees with a wind chill.
MacLatchy said work is underway to identify the victims, but at this stage, it appears they all died from exposure to the cold.
The RCMP said it is working with US Customs and Border Protection and the US Department of Homeland Security.
In a statement, the Canada Border Services Agency said it is also working with law enforcement partners, as well as its American counterparts, on the investigation.
The office of the Minister of Public Safety said in a statement: We are shocked and saddened by the tragic deaths of four people attempting to cross the Canada-US border, near Emerson, Manitoba. We extend our most heartfelt condolences to their loved ones, and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
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PIL in SC seeking action against racial violence targeting northeastern citizens
New Delhi (PTI): A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court seeking judicial intervention to address the "continuing constitutional failure" to prevent and respond to racial discrimination and violence against citizens from northeastern states and other frontier regions.
The PIL was filed on December 28 in the backdrop of the brutal killing of Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura, who succumbed on December 27 to grievous injuries sustained in a racially motivated attack in Selaqui area of Dehradun.
Anjel from Unakoti district's Machmara went to Dehradun after completing his graduation in Holy Cross School, Agartala, to pursue MBA, where he was stabbed to death in the presence of his younger brother Michael.
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The family members of Chakma want capital punishment or at least life imprisonment for all the accused involved in the incident. Anoop Prakash Awasthi, a Delhi-based lawyer, has made the Centre and all the states and Union territories as parties to the PIL.
"That the present writ petition is being filed seeking issuance of writ under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking issuance of writ in the nature of mandamus, order, direction or any other appropriate writ for the violation of fundamental rights as under article 14, 19 (1) a & (g) and 21, and thus seeking judicial intervention to address the issue of racial discrimination and violence against Indian citizens from the north-eastern states and other frontier regions of India," the plea said.
"We are Indians. What certificate should we show to prove that?" words that tragically became the last recorded assertion of Anjel Chakma about his constitutional belonging before the confrontation escalated into brutal violence, it said while recounting the offence leading to his death.
The plea referred to media reports about Chakma's death.
The attackers allegedly assaulted and stabbed both brothers and Chakma sustained severe injuries to his neck and spine, remained unconscious throughout his treatment, and died after more than fourteen days in intensive medical care, it said, adding his death triggered widespread anguish, protests, and demands for justice across the country.
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"Issue an appropriate writ (ad interim till a legislation is made) in the nature of formulating comprehensive guidelines, recognising 'racial slur' as a separate category of hate crimes and determining punishment for the same," the plea said.
It sought a direction to the Centre and the states to create a "nodal agency or a permanent body or commission or directorate" at the central level as well as at the level of each state where such racial crimes can be reported and redressed.
"Direct the respondents at central level as well as at the level of each state to make and create a dedicated special police unit in each district/metropolitan area to address the racial crimes," it said.
The plea sought a direction to the Centre and the states to organise "workshops and debates at educational institutes on the issue of prevailing racial discrimination and ways to redress the same".
The petition said that despite the unmistakable hate-based and racial motivation behind the crime, India's criminal justice system lacks any mechanism to recognise or record racial bias at the initial stage of investigation.
As a result, such offences are treated as ordinary crimes, "erasing motive, diluting constitutional gravity, and perpetuating a pattern of impunity", it said.
The plea said that the killing of Chakma is not an isolated incident but part of a long-standing pattern of racial abuse and violence against citizens from the northeastern states.
The petition recalls earlier cases, including the death of Nido Taniam in 2014 and numerous assaults on students and workers in metropolitan cities, incidents that have been formally acknowledged by the Centre in parliamentary replies but, according to the petitioner, remain unaddressed through any dedicated legislative or institutional framework.
