E/CN.4/2001/83/Add.1 page 13 III. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL CASES 47. The observations and conclusions presented in this report are based on information collected during the Special Rapporteur’s mission. An account is given below of some of the questions she addressed in the course of her visits to several cities, arising in areas of particular concern to the Special Rapporteur, not only in the specific context of Canada but in the general context of situations faced by migrants at the present time. A. Migrants and refugee claimants in detention 48. Canada recognizes the changing reality of migratory movements around the world. The immigration authorities interviewed by the Special Rapporteur all tended to express the view, however, that, owing to the broad scope of the law, many migrants opted to claim refugee status despite the fact that they were not in situations covered by the 1951 Convention. The Special Rapporteur is aware that latent or actual internal conflicts, natural disasters and extreme poverty drive many people to leave their countries of origin in search of better opportunities in other lands. Although such people feel the need to emigrate, they do not necessarily fit into the refugee category defined in the 1951 Convention or more broadly in the Canadian Immigration Act, which includes humanitarian considerations. The constantly increasing number of immigrants may at times cause the Canadian authorities to take special control measures. 49. In this respect, the Special Rapporteur has noted with concern the reactions in British Columbia to the measures adopted by Canada in the summer of 1999 in order to tighten its border controls and the refugee admission process. That reaction may have been due to a great extent to the arrival on the coast of British Columbia of 600 persons of Chinese origin in several boats, in deplorable sanitary, hygienic and psychological conditions. Canada was thus confronted with illegal migrant trafficking and smuggling. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration asked for the Chinese citizens to be detained so as to prevent them either disappearing over the border into the United States or falling into the hands of traffickers, especially in the case of minors. The Minister decided that, in accordance with the law, asylum-seekers should be given the possibility of a full hearing of their case. The proceedings, however, have become extremely drawn out, which has led to special difficulties: at the time of completion of this report, some refugee claimants were still being held in detention centres. In those centres, the Special Rapporteur noted some worrying psychological situations, which affected the physical health of some of the women detainees owing to their extended stay in detention and the uncertainty surrounding their future, leading to actual crises of anxiety in front of the Special Rapporteur. 50. The Special Rapporteur drew attention to this matter in her interview in Vancouver with Mr. Richard Jackson, Assistant Deputy Chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board (British Columbia section). The Special Rapporteur asked to visit the detention centre where some of the persons who had arrived by boat as previously described were being held. The Government of Canada offered the Special Rapporteur the possibility of visiting the Burnaby detention centre for women. She visited the centre on 26 September and interviewed some of the detainees. At the express request of the persons she spoke to at this centre and the other two