Hitch a ride to the UK in the back of a truck for £350...
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• by Charles Young The system of fining hauliers caught with illegal immigrants in their trucks was exposed as a poor deterrent by a journalist who was able to set up an illegal passage to the UK within 24 hours for £350.
This will anger innocent hauliers who face £2,000 fines for each stowaway found in their trucks despite their best efforts to keep them out, while unscrupulous operators cash in on this illicit trade.
Burhan Wazir, a journalist for the Observer, approached an asylum seeker in Calais last week and enquired about how he could cross the Channel In the back of a truck.
The Iranian asylum seeker told Wazir to return with him to a detention centre at Sangatt, about eight miles from Calais. There Wazir found around 700 asylum applicants who were free to come and go while their cases were reviewed by the French authorities, Many of them walked around Calais, presumably tempted by the reputedly easy passage to the UK.
He was introduced to a group of three detainees, two Pakistanis and an Iranian, who took him to a Calais truck park. There the two Pakistanis entered into a discussion with a British truck driver who agreed a fee of £350 to add one more person to his illicit cargo. There was apparently no mention of the £8,000 fine the haulier faced if the stowaways were found.
At 21:00hrs last Tuesday they climbed into the back of a truck whose driver had left the trailer doors open. The doors were then locked. The ferry journey was uneventful and Wazir reports there was no Customs check in the UK.
A few miles outside Dover the truck stopped and the trailer doors were opened. The illegal immigrants walked back into Dover to seek work.