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Ship stowaways must prove identity

Two stowaways were found onboard Atlantic Concert last week in Halifax harbour.

Two stowaways discovered aboard a ship in Halifax harbour last week will be in custody for at least another seven days.

The Immigration Refugee Board ruled that the men can't be released because they lack proper identification, said Julie Chamagne, executive director of the Halifax Refugee Clinic.

Chamagne, who represented the men at a closed-door hearing Monday at the Central Nova Correctional Facility, said the two men will appear again in seven days to see if they have identification documents.

The men speak Arabic, Chamagne said, but she doesn't know what country they're from.

"If there is a lack of identification, the only thing I can do is show they have been compliant, show they have support to try and and find an alternative to detention," she said.

"But, if identity hasn't been satisfied, there is no chance of release."

The men were found last Wednesday aboard the Swedish-owned Atlantic Concert after the ACL vessel arrived in Halifax from Liverpool, England.

"I think anyone who gets on a container ship in February and crosses the Atlantic has to be in a desperate situation," Chamagne said.

The men are shaken by the crossing, she said, and by being locked up in the province's largest jail.

"Halifax doesn't have an immigration holding centre. These people are not incarcerated, they are detained on immigration grounds," she said.

"But they are in the general population of a criminal facility here, and that's got to be a shock to anyone."

The shipping company has to pay $25,000 each time someone hides away on their ships to get into Canada.

The Atlantic Concert left Halifax on Saturday for American ports of call.