A lawyer who represented Chinese migrants who came here a decade ago says boat people who arrived in B.C. waters this weekend have a very good chance of staying in the country.

On Friday, Canadian authorities intercepted a ship carrying 76 migrants off the coast of Vancouver Island. It is believed the passengers are Tamils who are fleeing Sri Lanka.

Lawyer Doug Cannon represented many of the 600 Chinese migrants who arrived in B.C. in the summer of 1999. He estimates no more than two per cent of the group were allowed to stay, with many deported, and others vanishing, likely into the U.S.

He believes the Sri Lankans have a better chance of staying because they can prove danger in their homeland - something the Chinese migrants couldn't do.

"The profile of Sri Lankan refugee claimants is much different than Chinese refugee claimants," Cannon said.

"If they have a genuine basis for persecution they're going to be able to stay because it's a dangerous country. I would very much doubt that anyone who's released is going to disappear the way many of Chinese migrants did."

Ninety-seven percent of Sri Lankan refugee claims were accepted last year.

Michael Lin, then only 17, was one of only a handful of Chinese migrants who were allowed to stay in the country after arriving in 1999. He now runs a granite company with his former government case worker in Port Coquitlam, B.C.

"If you're in the boat and you behave, okay. If you don't behave they hit you one time and throw you down. Everybody behave. Otherwise he throws you to the sea."

An unraveling puzzle

It is still unclear why the Sri Lankan migrants came to Canada and Canada Border Services Agency remain tight-lipped about what, if anything, is known about their situation.

RCMP Sgt. Duncan Pound said that translators are providing assistance, though "there is some English from some of the individuals on board."

The men will have to be formally identified, photographed, fingerprinted and then under Canadian law, they will have their detention reviewed within the next two days, immigration lawyer Guidy Mamann said Monday morning.

"It's going to be determined whether or not some or any of them should be released, and on what terms and conditions," Mamann said during a phone interview from Toronto.

The men will have to submit a refugee claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board within 28 days. The agency will then schedule a hearing to decide if the claim will proceed.

Michael Lin says he's glad he came to Canada on the illegal ship.

"Of course. It was worth it."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson