TORONTO:
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, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on January 22, said that his government was doing all it can and working “very closely” with the US to stop human smuggling.
“It was an absolutely mind-blowing story. It’s so tragic to see a family die like that, victims of human smuggling… 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.
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 January 20, 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 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 (sic),” Bisaria tweeted. PTI