CANADIAN Prime Minister Kim Campbell yesterday warned that the influx to North America of illegal immigrants from China posed serious problems for legitimate migrants from Hong Kong.
But she promised the Government in Ottawa would continue to welcome investment migrants from Hong Kong and others who arrived in Canada through the proper channels.
She said more enforcement was needed in China to stem the flow of illegal immigrants from the mainland, which she said had brought criminal elements into Chinese communities in Canada.
''What we've tried to do is to try at the departure level to prevent people from getting on planes and boats without the proper documentation before they leave,'' she said.
''When criminal elements come from other countries, it is the immigrant communities here that are victimised.
''Certainly in Vancouver many of the members of the Chinese merchant community have been very vocal in wanting the Government to tighten up these things because they find themselves victimised by people who perhaps ought not to be admitted,'' she said.
''It's a multi-faceted problem that requires the legal tools, the logistical tools and mechanisms to try to keep people from arriving here - or expeditiously sending them back to where they came from.'' Ms Campbell became Prime Minister in June after winning her party's leadership contest. The country's first female head of government, she leads in several public opinion surveys taken ahead of a general election expected to be called within the next few days.