June 3rd, 2004 issue of the Asian Pacific Post

Internal Affairs Minister George Hawkins said the Government intends to amend the Identity (Citizenship and Travel Documents) Bill, currently being considered by a parliamentary committee, to cancel automatic citizenship for babies.

Hawkins could provide no figures to back the proposed amendment but said it was a "substantial number and it varies from year to year."

"But basically a number of people do come. New Zealand is an attractive place to have your child have citizenship rights for," he told National Radio.

"It provides a free education, medical services better than many of the countries people have come from. In the end, of course, it puts more burden on New Zealanders."

The bill also extends the amount of time permanent residents have to wait to become citizens and makes passports valid for five years instead of 10, because of increasing international passport and citizenship fraud.

The Asian Pacific Post in an exclusive report published June 3 showed that a similar trend involving so called "passport babies" was occurring in Canada.

Our story showed how pregnant Korean mothers were flying to the west coast in organized "birth tours" to deliver their children at local hospitals.

The babies become instant citizens and travel home within weeks on Canadian papers.

For the boys, Canadian citizenship means they can avoid mandatory military duty in their homeland.

For the girls, it is mainly about getting to study overseas without having to pay high foreign student fees. For their parents, it is a foothold in North America.

The Asian Pacific Post story quoted Coquitlam businessman Wohn Su-hyeon, a birth-tour agent, who had placed ads in Seoul seeking pregnant women who were interested in having their babies in Canada.

For $22,000 Wohn and his travel agent partner in Seoul were promising pregnant mothers medical check-ups, delivery at a Vancouver area hospital, two months of postnatal care, a return flight, a local guide providing services ranging from airport pickup to getting the baby's birth certificate, social insurance number and eventually Canadian citizenship.

According to Wohn who runs Granville Health centre out of his Thompson St. home in Coquitlam there are at least five other companies in the Lower Mainland catering to expectant Korean mothers who want to give birth here. In Korea, he estimates there are at least 10, who like him are publicly promoting birth tours.

The Korea Times recently estimated that the number of Korean mothers who take the distressful and expensive tours to foreign countries to deliver their babies is expected to increase to more than 7,000 this year, an increase of more than 100 percent from 3,000 in 2001.

Following the story, which was picked up by national media, Immigration Canada said the situation is not alarming enough nor the numbers high enough for it to move to plug the loophole.

Spoksperson Maria Iadinardi said there is no indication of high numbers of Korean women coming to Canada to deliver babies in so-called arranged birth tours.

"There is no pressing reason here for us to now change our visitor requirements when it comes to Koreans."

Korean visitors to Canada do not need a visa.