May 24, 1996, the "Maersk Dubai" docked in Halifax on her way to the United States. She was a container ship, registered in Taiwan, with largely Taiwanese officers and a Filipino crew, operated by the Yang Ming Line, but under contract to the Maersk line.
In Halifax, some of the crew members informed the Ports Police and the RCMP that the ship's officers had discovered Romanian stowaways on the ship and had put them overboard at sea. The RCMP arrested the officers who had been named. Four of the Filipino crewmen stayed in Halifax to give testimony: Ariel Broas, Esmeraldo Esteban, Juanito Ilagan Jr. and Rodolfo Miguel.
The Romanian government requested extradition of the officers, and a hearing was held. On March 6, 1997, the presiding judge declared that he did not have jurisdiction, as the alleged crimes had been committed on the high seas. He said, however, that if he had jurisdiction he would have bound six of the officers for trial for murder or manslaughter.
No one has officially denied that at least two stowaways were put overboard. Well researched articles in the Globe and Mail, May 3 and 5, 1997, as well as other strong evidence, support the allegation that the crimes had been committed.
For nearly a year the Taiwanese officers lived in hotel accomodation in Halifax and had visits from their families their expenses apparently paid by their employer. They have since gone home, and we understand that they are still working for the Yang Ming Line.
Meanwhile, the four Filipino seamen witnesses have been living in minimal accomodation in Halifax, and have taken what jobs they could find, usually at minimum wage, to support themselves and their families in the Philippines.
Because of their determination to see justice done they are unable to return to their former jobs and are convinced that their lives would be in danger if they returned home. In all likelihood they will never dare work at sea again.
Their wives and children have also been in danger. They have been repeatedly harassed and threatened. Two families have had to move from their comfortable middle-class homes and take refugein the cramped quarters provided by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), where they are under armed guard. The other families are living with relatives and guarded by neighbors and friends. The women have had to stop working and the children have missed a year of school. One and a half years later, one family isstill in sanctuary and all have the protection of a voluntary organization.
According to affidavits signed by family members and by officers of the Council of Churches, the wives and children have been repeatedly threatened with death, and attempts have been made to bribe them - all in an effort to keep the men silent.
For a time, the seamen refused to give testimony in the extradition case. They were warned that they would be charged with contempt of court, and replied that they would rather suffer incarceration than further endanger the lives of their families. When they received sufficient assurances that their loved ones were safe, they relented, one by one, and presented their evidence.
In Texas, a civil suit was launched by the families of the Romanian stowaways, and an attempt was made by the American authorities to compel the seamen to give evidence. The seamen professed that such action on their part would put their families in great danger, and on July 18, 1997, judge Hilroy Nathanson of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court agreed that the danger was real, and refused to order them to testify.
The seamen applied for refugee status. Their hearing concluded on July 12. On Nov. 13, the two-person panel ruled that the seamen did not fulfill the refugee requirements in that their pligh was not the result of membership in a political, religious or social group, and the panel believed the danger to their families had come to an end.(The Society has evidence that the harassment and danger continue.)
A review of this decision has been launched in the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and if it does not bring the desired results, a request will be made for landing rights on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
