The tragic deaths of four people on the Manitoba-U.S. border on Wednesday will hopefully trigger a series of further dialogue with the Canadian government about protecting people from human smugglers, says the India Association of Manitoba.
Priyanka Singh, president of the association, said her community is still in shock after it was revealed that four Indian nationals were trying to cross into the U.S. from Manitoba in the middle of extremely low temperatures and blizzard-like conditions.
“It was very shocking when I read it, especially because there was an infant and another child involved,” she said.
“That hits close to home. I have a child myself, and I can’t even imagine such a tragedy in my family, so it’s very devastating.”
The US Border Patrol says the four were part of a group of nine travellers who were trying to cross the border when temperatures were below -30 C and high winds blew around the falling powdery snow.
Three of the group, including a baby, were found only 10 metres from the border east of Emerson, Man. while the fourth, a teen boy, was found later.
Neither Manitoba RCMP nor the US Border Patrol have released the names of the people found.
“The only thing that we know is one member of the group speaks a particular regional Indian dialect,” said Singh.
“But but we were in communication with the Indian consulate in Toronto yesterday and we are aware that a team from the Indian consulate in Toronto is travelling to Manitoba today to help with the coordination of finding out who these people are.”
The deaths of the four will mean talks to the community and the government about safely immigrating to Canada and how to prevent people from taking this risk in the first place, said Singh.
“I think now this incident is going to probably trigger some more serious conversations with not only the community, but also the government,” she said.
“I think the government needs to curb (these) immigration consultants who falsify information just to earn more money from people. And sometimes people are either gullible or they are illiterate, or they are not smart enough to know what the proper way is.”
An American from Florida, Steve Shand, has been arrested in relation to the deaths and will face smuggling charges. Whether he faces charges in Canada remains to be seen.
In the meantime, Singh said the incident will serve as a reminder for people who are taking the risk of crossing the border illegally — especially in such conditions.
“Four people have lost their lives and especially the kids who had nothing to do with this decision,” she said.
“Is it worth risking your life just to get into a country because you think you’re following a dream?”