MONTREAL, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Two stowaways on a freighter that docked in Montreal told an immigration hearing they didn't want to return to Morocco because of bad living conditions there.
A total of nine stowaways were discovered inside a shipping container when the ship docked last week, and the other seven have applied for refugee status, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News reported.
The stowaways had thought the vessel was bound for Europe, not Canada, the CBC said.
Immigration officials who interviewed the two Moroccan men said neither expressed any fear about returning to their homeland, although both were asked if they needed Canada's protection.
One of the men, speaking through an Arab-French interpreter, said he doesn't want to go back because Morocco is going through an economic crisis.
"Some days, I don't eat breakfast or lunch or supper," he said through the interpreter. "My father is dead. My mother doesn't work."
He would like to stay and work in Canada and become a citizen, he said.
The other man told the hearing he didn't understand immigration officials when they asked him about seeking Canada's protection, but that he just wants to live in Canada and even die there rather than return to Morocco.
The hearing has been put on hold until next week to give immigration officials time to confirm their identities, CBC said.
