The deportees, all adults, were flown to the mainland in a chartered Boeing 747 under an agreement with Chinese authorities after being denied refugee status in Canada, a Canadian immigration official said.

The illegal immigrants, who were among nearly 600 Chinese who arrived in four rusty smuggling ships on Canada's Pacific coast last summer, have been detained in Canadian jails since their arrival.

Canadian authorities are on alert for more ships carrying human cargo this summer.

''I think the detention perhaps caused some [potential illegal migrants] to reflect on if Canada is a good choice,'' said Therese Vermette, a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Canada deported 90 ''boat people'' to the mainland in early May, the first mass deportations in recent Canadian history.

Nearly 600 Chinese were detained by Canada last summer when they arrived illegally by boat. Another smuggling ship avoided capture and successfully off-loaded its human cargo near Prince Rupert in British Columbia, according to sources.

All of the illegal immigrants requested refugee status but only 16 received it. Canadian authorities are still holding 164 of the migrants, but 128 who were not detained have disappeared and are being sought.

Although the smuggling boats arrived in Canada, experts on human smuggling say most of the migrants intended to continue on to the United States. The ships are operated by Asian gangs that charge each migrant up to C$60,000 (HK$319,802).

The group sent home overnight was flown to the mainland from Prince George, British Columbia. Canada would not say which city the plane flew to, but the first group was taken to Fujian province.

An advocate for the refugees complained about the use of mass deportations, and said many of the illegal immigrants had offered to pay their own way home if they could travel on an individual and ''more anonymous'' basis.

''If Canada's purpose was just to deport them, then we should have looked at these alternatives. If our purpose was to further punish them, then that is what we've done,'' said Victor Wong, executive director of the Vancouver Association of Chinese Canadians.

Mr Wong said the group deported overnight was ''very fearful'' because most of the migrants sent home in May have been jailed by mainland authorities.

Leaving China without permission is a criminal office, but Ms Vermette said Canada has been assured by the mainland that any first-time offenders among the deportees ''will be treated lightly''.

Ms Vermette said it had cost Canada C$36 million to detain the refugees. Most of the migrants still in jail are in the Vancouver area, and that its expected that another group of 90 will be returned to the mainland in the near future.

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