Under proposals drivers will face a ,a000 fine for every illegal immigrant found on their vehicles.
Page 40
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
I'legal immigration is big business and trucks heading for the Channel ports are among the most obvious ways for asylum seekers to reach the UK. With the threat of L2,000 fines for each stowaway found on board a truck, how can hauliers and their drivers avoid becoming innocent victims of this trade?
The techniques used to hide illegal immigrants in vehicles crossing the Channel sometimes seem more like the work of a professional illusionist than a professional criminal.
Earlier this year, for example, four stowaways were discovered inside a vehicle belonging to Laser Transport, yet there were no signs of forced entry.
Familiar
"To this day we can't understand how they got in," says Nick Charlesworth, divisional manager of the company's depot at Hythe, Kent. "We have fairly detailed procedures that our guys follow. We hope that it makes it more difficult, but the underlying problem is that the people perpetrating these actions are professionals; they can have a bunch of immigrants in the back of your trailer in five minutes flat."
Laser is about to add a section on illegal immigrants to its drivers' handbook, and its drivers will be required to sign a statement saying they have read and understood it.
The Home Office estimates that around 12,000 illegal immigrants entered this country in the back of lorries last year; and it warns that there is no sign of numbers falling. A change in the law, making drivers responsible for carrying stowaways, further underlines the need for increased vigilance when approaching the Channel ports.
Under proposals contained in the Immigration and Asylum Bill, drivers face a £2,000 fine for every illegal immigrant found in their vehicles. This is unlikely to become law before next year so hauliers and drivers still have time to prepare. A code of practice outlining the preventive measures they should adopt is being drawn up in consultation with trade associations; Home Office Minister Mike O'Brien plans to discuss this issue with the Transport 8c General Workers' Union later this summer.
Home Secretary Jack Straw says drivers who can show they have taken proper precautions will escape prosecution, but some specialists in this field are still worried. Stephen Jakobi of fair Trials Abroad, who has defended numerous drivers on drug smuggling charges, says proving there was no intent to carry an illegal immigrant will be just as difficult as proving ignorance of hidden drugs.
Peter Cook, managing director and chairman of Durham-based Peter Cook Transport, says successive governments have regarded hauliers as a soft target, and this is unlikely to change over illegal immigration. "If dealing with the haulage industry, they feel they are dealing with a bunch of ruffians," he says.