During a hearing before a commissioner of the Immigration and Refugee Board, the story of the nine people who had illegally boarded a ship which had docked at Montreal came out. These people were young Moroccans who were hiding in a cargo ship. This ship did not pay huge amount of money to a network involved in smuggling. Instead, these were just young people who had thought that they would be able to find employment in a new nation. More so, they did not even know that this ship was moving towards Canada. Seven of these people are now seeking asylum where as the other two are not.

The specifics regarding these people came out during the detention hearing which was conducted for one of the nine Moroccans. With the partial publication ban imposed, the asylum seeker cannot be identified with his name, age or any other form of identification details.

This man neither had his passport or any other official documents which could prove his identity. As per Marisa Musto, the IRB Commissioner, this man could be held in custody for another week so that he could contact his family and get the relevant documentation which could prove his identification.

However, according to the detainee, he has never owned a passport and while his belongings were searched, none was recovered. He also said that these nine people had set a plan about four days before hiding on a ship. These people thought that they were either going to Spain or Italy. The detainee mentioned that his aim for find work and support his family.