The four Georgian migrants released

Claudia Berthiaume

Friday, 28 July 2017 22:25

UPDATE
Friday, 28 July 2017 22:25

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The four Georgian migrants were discovered by accident last week in a container in the port of Montreal were released on Friday while waiting to find out if they will be allowed to remain in Canada.

According to the checks made by the royal Canadian mounted police in the last days, the four men have no criminal record. They had, in addition, passports are legitimate in their country of origin, which facilitated their identification.

The Georgian migrants arrived onboard a container vessel from Hamburg, Germany.

Once on land, they spent about thirty hours prisoners of the container before being discovered by chance by a security officer of the port of Montreal, who was making his early morning rounds.

Given their critical condition, they had been treated at the Santa Cabrini hospital, before being transferred to detention by the Agency of Canada border services (CBSA).

The four men, one may not identify under an order of non-publication, have subsequently sought to obtain refugee status to remain in Canada.

Long process

“Asylum applications are deemed admissible and, in this sense, will follow their normal course,” said on Friday the representative of the border services Agency of Canada, Jean-Claude Bastien.

In the meantime, the immigration and refugee board (IRB) has released the migrant under conditions, confirmed his spokesperson Line Guibert Wolff.

The Georgians should provide an address of residence to the CBSA and inform the authorities in person if they decided finally to leave the country.

The asylum process could take several months or even a year, before being completed, stressed the commissioner Francois Milo, Friday, at the hearing of the IRB.