今天24hrs头条。。。keeping out passport babies

楼主 / 一步一脚印

看来这个话题越来越火热鸟。。。

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第 2 楼 / 一步一脚印

Birth tourism a concern for local Chinese community

In the insular but thriving Chinese community in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, it is both the worst and best-kept secret.

People talk about it at the dinner table but not on the street, to outsiders.

Ask almost anyone in Richmond, where roughly half of the 190,000 population is Chinese, if they’ve heard the phrase “passport babies” and they’ll nod in agreement. Ask them to talk about in public, or comment in the newspaper, it’s a different matter.

“It’s been a phenomenon for over 20 years,” said Thomas Tam, CEO of Lower Mainland immigration service S.U.C.C.E.S.S., which helps Chinese immigrants adjust to life in Canada. “Of course I know a lot of people in that kind of situation, but I don’t have that data or the figures to tell you how serious it is.”

Tam is one of the few in his community to speak out publicly about the prevalence of pregnant Chinese women coming to Canada to have babies, who are granted instant citizenship and can help the family jump the immigration cue.

He said people are afraid of negatively tarnishing those in their own community or the blowback from making waves.

“People don’t want to convey a very negative picture about some people in terms of draining the resources, or posing a negative impact on the community,” he said.

Birth tourism is nothing new.

Women have been coming here since the 1980s to have their “anchor children,” often lured by foreign and local “agents” with promises of “free education” and other perks for their children.

Once the child turns 18, they can sponsor their families to immigrate to the Canada. Many women are coached to “pretend they’re not pregnant” when crossing the border to avoid being caught.

“If pregnant women are detected to be very close to the due date, they may be denied to board the plane,” said Tam.

Renewed focus on the issue by a federal government that vows to crack down on birth tourism is causing a stir in the community.

On a local Chinese language radio program Tuesday, many callers agreed something has to change. Some said current laws allow a loophole and aren’t fair to immigrants who come into the country without exploiting birth tourism.

Others fear Canadian maternity wards will soon fill up if the Citizenship Act isn’t changed, and compared the situation in the West to overcrowding hospitals in Hong Kong, where similar cases of pregnant women from Mainland China “rushing the border” have been reported.

“It’s not that serious now, so fix it before it becomes a problem,” said a female caller.

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