A hidden danger
Page 18
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Stowaways' attempts to enter the UK are on the rise. So what can you do to prevent your company being hit with heavy fines for inadvertently aiding their passage? CM finds out.
Words: Joanna Bourke
UNDER THE PREVIOUS government, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the closure of a camp for illegal immigrants in Calais dubbed the 'jungle' in the blue-top presswould "disrupt illegal immigration and peopletrafficking routes': Johnson made the statement in September 2009, but fastforward almost a year and it seems that illegal immigration into the UK hy stowaways hidden ill lorries is showing no signs of a slow down.
This year alone numerous stowaways have been discovered in trucks. As recently as 13 July three teenage Eritreans were discovered hiding in the back of a truck in Highgate, Birmingham.
Part of the law to crack down on illegal immigration involves fining HGV drivers and operators for 'failing to operate an effective system to prevent illegal immigrants entering the UK', but this does not legislate for the possibility that drivers can face the prospect of violent attacks if they discover a stowaway onboard their vehicle.
More penalties issued
Following a Freedom of Information (Fol) Act request (CM 8 July), CM exclusively revealed that the number of penalties issued to drivers and firms last year (3,245) was almost double the 1.700 issued in 2008.
The penalties raised tibm in 2009; just a fraction higher than the £1.5m
collected in 2008. However, the UK A Driver Border Agency (UKBA) admits the penalties for 2009 revenue is likely to rise. A stowaways almost spokeswoman says: "The number of doubled in 2009
penalties issued in a year, and the amount of money collected in a year are not comparable, because there are a number of reasons that the payment for a penalty issued in one year could be delayed until the next calendar year, for example through appeals, late payment, or instalment payment plans" CM can also exclusively reveal that the increase in the number of stowaways caught between 2008-09 was higher than first thought. UKBA had initially reported that approximately 28,000 clandestine attempts were blocked in 2008, and 29,323 in 2009. However, it now confirms that the number in 2008 was 26.727 This means there was a 10% hike in the number of stowaways caught trying to smuggle into Britain.
Last year UKBA invested 115m in technology to make searches of vehicles more thorough, so it could be argued it is cracking down on illegal immigration. Either way, the statistics speak for themselves. and show more and more clandestines are trying to enter Britain.
Penalties can add up
Currently a driver or firm might receive a penalty of up to 12.000 per illegal immigrant found if they have not taken adequate steps to secure their vehicle.
Penalties could add up to a very severe amount. according to Don Armour, manager of international services at the Freight Transport Association, "We understand that t.; K BA has been finding fewer lorries carrying stowaways, but the ones that do are harbouring, higher numbers. So where it used to he one or two illegals, it is now 10 or 12 per vehicle."
UKBA's Civil Penalty Unit runs a free accreditation scheme (launched in 2005) open to hauliers operating between mainland Europe and the UK A firm must show that it has an el system to prevent it carrying clan. entrants in place to qualify. If ac and stowaways are then four company will not be fined if compliance with the scheme.
Brodie Clark. head of the UK Force (the enforcement arm of L tells CM: "Applying to join the L accreditation scheme shows that 1 are working with us to reduce clan entry to the UK, and to reduce the receiving penalties" While several operators questi the main agreed 'there is only si one can do to protect vehicles ft termined stowaways', this year's s do not show the issue improvirq near future. If by joining an accre. scheme operators can reduce the of prospective penalties, even then now is the time to sign up. I
, FOR THE LATEST NEWS VIS