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| Canadian Border Services released pictures of the man alleged to have boarded an Air Canada flight in disguise. (CBSA) |
Canadian Border Services released pictures of the man alleged to have boarded an Air Canada flight in disguise.
The carrier said Saturday it is conducting an internal investigation with the airport's staff as well as Singapore Airport Terminal Services, or SATS, which verifies passports at the boarding gate on behalf of Air Canada and other airlines.
During the flight, the passenger removed his disguise in the washroom and emerged as a young Asian man in his 20s, later claiming refugee status in Vancouver.
"Upon being alerted by flight crew, Air Canada security advised Canadian Border Services Agency officials to meet Flight AC018 on Oct. 29 in Vancouver to investigate a passenger who altered his appearance while onboard," spokesman John Reber said in a statement.
The incident, which a Canada Border Services Agency bulletin described as an "unbelievable case of concealment," has raised alarms about airport security.
Reber said there are multiple identity checks before departure at the Hong Kong airport, including Chinese government-run passport control, and a final passport check at the gate.
He said Air Canada would not be making any further comments while the company and CBSA officials conduct internal investigations.
Canadian Border Services had the man don the disguise for this photograph after he arrived in Vancouver.
Canadian Border Services had the man don the disguise for this photograph after he arrived in Vancouver. (CBSA)The agency detained the Asian traveller in Vancouver. He is scheduled to appear before the Immigration and Refugee Board on Monday.
Lee Rankin, the man's Canadian lawyer, said he has his own concerns.
"My interest in the case is the fact that somebody in Canadian government authority, somebody that has control of him, has decided to plaster his face and parade him in front of media," Rankin said.
"That's very disturbing and contrary to the way we have historically treated asylum claimants to Canada."
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews appeared to downplay the incident Saturday at an international security forum in Halifax.
He said that aside from the silicone mask, there was nothing unusual about the case, which came to light after CNN obtained a copy of an internal alert by the Canada Border Services Agency.
"In this particular case, as a result of a leak to a news agency, it became public knowledge," Toews said.
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Masked man 'probably helped by human smuggler'
by Sam Cooper, The Province; with file from Postmedia News
Just who is the man of mystery who apparently tricked his way from Hong Kong to Canada?
Media around the world are in a tizzy trying to discover the identity of a young Asian man who allegedly flew from Hong Kong to Vancouver on Oct. 29 disguised as a grumpy-looking Caucasian senior, before being betrayed by his young-looking hands.
The man, a Chinese national in his early 20s who doesn't speak English, was probably helped by a human smuggler, says his lawyer, Lee Rankin.
"It's unlikely that this method of concealment and documentation is something he dreamt up on his own," Rankin said Saturday.
"I believe that he had assistance. . . . I don't want to comment specifically, but 99.9 per cent of people arriving in Canada, particularly by air, they're relying on smugglers, who basically direct them where to go, provide documentation, tell them what to do."
It's believed the young traveller had somehow swapped boarding passes with a U.S. citizen and passenger who was born in 1955. He removed his mask during the flight.
Upon arriving in Vancouver, he was met by Canadian Border Service Agency officers, and he has now requested asylum.
Canadian officials are tight-lipped on the case. In a statement issued Friday, CBSA said the man is being held while waiting to appear for a refugee status hearing.
But Paula Faber, spokesperson for the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, said: "I'm not confirming or denying that this guy exists."
Likely, the man is a creative but unsophisticated trickster trying to jump the line to immigrate to Canada, says Richard Kurland, an immigration policy analyst and Canada immigration lawyer.
"If he's a spy, he's a bad spy," Kurland said with a laugh.
"But it shows the artistic creativity and Hollywood-esque style he has," Kurland quipped.
"Maybe he should qualify [for immigration] under the cultural artistic category to work in the entertainment industry."
The federal government said Friday the incident is being probed, and it is the responsibility of an airline to confirm the identity of passengers before they board a plane.
Security at the Hong Kong International Airport is usually very stringent.
Passengers must first have their boarding passes and passports checked by as many as two guards before they are able to enter the "departures hall."
Once in the hall, boarding passes and IDs are checked again before passengers walk through metal detectors while hand luggage passes through X-ray machines.
Next, passengers must hand over their passports and stand face-to-face with a Hong Kong immigration official to be cleared for departure -- a seemingly daunting task for someone wearing a mask.
The final check comes at the gate. Airline staff members usually ask to see passports in addition to boarding passes.
This is Kurland's best guess of what happened: "What if he was on one of those golf carts and gets wheeled up to the front, and he can't communicate -- at least that's his game. And the profile of an elderly person is not the profile of a potential [refugee] claimant.
"[Airline staff] could have taken the business risk decision and waved the elderly guy on-board. We don't have the facts, but that looks likely. . . .
"Human ingenuity will trump billion-dollar security every time."
Kurland said that, given the snail's pace of Canadian immigration procedures, "we won't know if [the young Asian man] is a genuine refugee for four years."
"The real issue is it's taking too long to process claims," he said. "When you get slow processing, you attract more claims.
"People are here are ahead of friends and relatives that are cued up globally. That's a frustrating thing. People that follow the rules are not here."
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