Drama In Akwesasne Indian Police Have Identified Four Migrants …

The four Indian nationals whose bodies were among the eight bodies pulled from the St. Lawrence River last week were traveling to Canada on tourist visas, a public official from their home state said Monday. Posted 2:45 am Updated 6:24 am

Hina Alam, Sidhartha Banerjee and Morgan Lowrie The Canadian Press

Eight people - four from India and four from Romania - are going to enter the United States of America through the Akwesasne Republic, through the Mohawk, through the Akwesasne Territory, which passes through Monteregie, Ontario and the United States.

Achal Tyagi, the official police officer of Mehsana, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, told the Canadian Press that the four Indians who died last week were members of the Chaudhari family: father, Praveenbhai Chaudhari, 50, mother, Dakshaben; 45, son Meet, 20, daughter Vidhi, 23.

Mr. Praveenbhai was a farmer, Superintendent Tyagi said, adding that the family hailed from Mehsana district, which has a population of about 1.8 million. Indian police have opened an investigation with Chaudhari's family members, he said on Monday.

"They had been in Canada for two months.

And here in Canada they left the visas," he said in a telephone interview from Gujarat. >>

Officials are in contact with the Canadian Embassy in India and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Mr. Tyagi also confirmed. The study is in its early stages and a few new features were revealed on Monday, he said.

"At this time, we have information that the family went to Canada on a tourist visa. and they are only on their way to Canada.

They were also talking to their members (in India). That's what the members of the members do for us. So we will wait and see," Mr Tyagi added.

The Chaudharis are at least the second family from Gujarat who died trying to enter the United States illegally in Canada in the past 18 months.

In January 2022, four members of the Patel family were strangled to death in Manitoba. A few of these bodies were found on the border near Emerson. Three people in India have been charged in the case, while a Florida man is on trial in Minnesota for human trafficking.

No trace of Casey Oak

Meanwhile, in Akwesasne, there was still no sign of the missing Mohawk man Monday, whose boat was found near where the bodies of eight migrants were pulled from the river last week.

Akwesasne Mohawk Police have been searching for Casey Oakes for 30 years since last Thursday.

Last Wednesday evening, he was seen in control of a boat in Mohawk territory, but the police have established no direct link between him and the migrants' deaths.

Early Monday evening, the police force issued a statement in which it confirmed it had no new information to share about Mr. Oakes. The investigation will resume on Tuesday with the cooperation of the Surete du Quebec and the Ontario Provincial Police.

Officials revealed that eight of the victims belonged to a family of Romanian origin and another of Indian origin.

Mohawk police identified two of the migrants of Romanian origin on Saturday: Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache and Florin Iordache, 28. Florin Iordache carried Canadian passports for two children, one and two elderly, who are also among the victims.

The Romanians were possibly threatened with deportation

A Romanian family lived in the suburbs of Toronto. The priest of the Roman Orthodox Church "All Saints", in Scarborough, said on Monday that the community prayed especially for this small family in the common service of commemoration of the deceased, at the end of the week.

Father Emanuel Tencaliuc also said in an interview on Monday that two children were baptized in his church in June 2022. "A young family, calm, shy, said the priest.

It seems that they wanted to attend church and meet the community. >>

A friend of Florin Iordache said on Monday the family faced deportation from Canada. The friend, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals from Immigration, said that in the days leading up to the tragedy, Mr. Iordache was frantically looking for a lawyer after he was denied permission to stay in Canada.

According to the online filing of the Federal Court, the name of Florin Iordache and another individual, Monalisa Budi, filed on March 10 by judicial review of the risk assessment was removed.

Immigration Canada conducts an assessment to ensure that a person is not deported to a country where they would be at risk of torture, persecution or death.

In a Facebook exchange, his friend, a Toronto resident and member of the Romanian community, asked why immigration authorities were seeking to deport Mr. Iordache, who had two Canadian-born children and held construction and cleaning jobs.

"I'm happy here," he said, adding that the Romanian community was trying to provide financial support to return the bodies to their families, which he described as having low incomes.

The two families died less than a week after Canada and the United States changed their immigration agreement, which prohibits people from either country from crossing borders to apply for asylum.

This change actually amends the Safe Third Country Agreement so that it also covers private entry points along the 9,000 kilometer border.

Passing through Val-d'Or on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated that the death of the two families was an immense tragedy. But he cautioned that it is too early to tell whether the new Canada-US deal has encouraged those migrants to try to cross into the United States illegally.

Mr.

Trudeau has stated that Canada will accept more immigrants than ever, but that it must be done "responsibly" so that people do not put themselves at risk.