WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 -- Up to 100 Chinese migrants were transferred Wednesday by U.S. authorities from an overcrowded freighter near Bermuda to Guantanamo Bay naval base on Cuba. The illegal migrants were aboard the ship Xing Da that was trying to reach U.S. shores when it was boarded on Sunday by the Coast Guard and towed to an anchorage in Bermudan waters.
The Chinese passengers -- there were 83 migrants and 26 others identified as crew or individuals enforcing order on the ship -- were severely dehydrated and hungry when the Coast Guard intercepted the 221- foot ship about 100 miles north of Bermuda, U.S. officials said. After remaining at Guantanamo for several days, the migrants will be moved to another facility before being repatriated back to China, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said. 'These Asian migrants on board have now been taken by Coast Guard aircraft to the U.S. base at Guantanamo. They will be held there...and taken to another location, probably as early as next week, where they will be questioned by immigration officials,' Burns said. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that three Chinese men were indicted Tuesday on charges related to the Xing Da incident. The three allegedly paid up to $500,000 to an Immigration and Naturalization Service official who was posing as a fishing boat operator and offered to smuggle the migrants off the Xing Da into Massachusetts.. In recent years, more than 40 ships have been discovered attempting to smuggle Chinese migrants into the United States. Possibly dozens more have reached American shores without being detected. The problem gained widespread attention in 1993 when the ship Golden Venture ran aground off Long Island in New York with some 280 Chinese aboard in miserable conditions. At least 10 died when they attempted to swim ashore.
