SMUGGLING OF CHINESE

Shannon News, 6 October 1925, Page 1

SMUGGLING OF CHINESE

AUSTRALIAN DISCLOSURES. BORROWED BIRTH CERTIFICATES. SYDNEY, August 7. Disclosures have recently been made of a widespread conspiracy to introduce Chinese immigrants into Australia on borrowed birth ,certificate;. Only Chirfese born in Australia and who wish to return are allowed to land, with the exception of merchants and students, who are allowed to stay for a limited> time only. The Federal Department for Home and Territories has been investigating the matter for some time and one of its inspectors is now in Darwin (Northern Territory), where a raid on a Chinese store a few days ago brought to light a number of incriminating documents. These arc stated to. show that a syndicate or society is at work providing Chinese wishing to enter th e Commonwealth with the birth certificates of dead Chinese born in Australia, or of Chinese who do not wish to return here from their homeland. This society is believed to have its headquarters 'in Hong-kong, and agencies in all the Australian seaports. A genuine birth certificate can be bought from this society for sums ranging up to £250,, no trouble being exeprienced in obtaining an immigrant very much like the photograph attached to the passports. The accompanying statutory documents are regarded in these cases as so many scraps of paper. The procedure is then simple, The Chinese who was taken back to his country when a boy. The customs officers have little chance to disprove his story. Photo-gra-phs and fingerprints are useless. The Customs officials at Sydney know of at least two individuals in this city who are interested in the society's affairs, although it is. not definitely known whether they form part of the syndicate. ' The department has for some years been aware that attempts were being made to get Chinese into Sydney by means of false birth certificates, and in a number of cases attempts have been frustrated by the vigilance of the Customs officers. The big obstacle which the department has had to contend with in thes e cases is the difficulty of obtaining proof that the certificates presented by the Chinese are not genuine There are other methods adopted of evading, the officers. It is said that a Chinese wishing to live in Australia will join the crew of a Chinese vessel and on arrival will change places with another Chinese wanting to return home-. Chinese will not betray a countryman who has been smuggled in. On the contrary, many of them do all in their power to help him to evade the law. - It is significant that when a Chinese is arrested and charged with being a prohibited immigrant, no matter how poor the man may be or how big the sum, bail money is always forthcoming. There is little doubt that some secret society is standing behind these men.