BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS: FLOOD OF WOULD-BE REFUGEES INTO UNITED KINGDOM CONTINUES DESPITE EXTRA SECURITY, REGULATIONS AND FINES
Record ID:
275172
BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS: FLOOD OF WOULD-BE REFUGEES INTO UNITED KINGDOM CONTINUES DESPITE EXTRA SECURITY, REGULATIONS AND FINES
- Title: BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS: FLOOD OF WOULD-BE REFUGEES INTO UNITED KINGDOM CONTINUES DESPITE EXTRA SECURITY, REGULATIONS AND FINES
- Date: 11th December 2000
- Summary: ZEEBRUGGE, BELGIUM (DECEMBER 13, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) NIGHT VIEWS 1. VARIOUS OF LORRIES DRIVING ONTO FERRY RAMP (2 SHOTS) 0.08 2. LV: FERRY LEAVING PORT 0.13 3. TRAVELLING SHOT: SECURITY CAR OF SECURITY COMPANY GROUP FOUR DRIVING AROUND FERRY TERMINAL 0.19 4. CU: NIGHT SECURITY GUARD KURT DESCHEPPER DRIVING CAR 0.23
- Embargoed: 26th December 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ZEEBRUGGE, BELGIUM AND THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS
- City:
- Country: Netherlands
- Reuters ID: LVA5R20IYEK5CTY2T4VJTAXQ5HUX
- Story Text: Six months after the tragic death of 58 Chinese illegal
immigrants and despite extra security, regulations and fines,
the flood of would-be refugees into the United Kingdom
continues.
Lorries were embarking as usual on Wednesday (December
13) at Zeebrugge, a gateway for Britain-bound freight and a
veritable highway for illegal immigrants.
No-one knows how many people successfully cross illegally
into the United Kingdom every night, the only certainty is
that they do.
Hundreds of refugees and illegal immigrants from all over
the world flock to the ports on the English Channel trying to
secure a passage into the United Kingdom and, they hope, a
life away from the miseries of their homeland.
Many are Kosovo Albanians, other come from China, yet more
come from other parts of Asia and Africa.
The problem has been going on for years. But it hit the
headlines six months ago, when authorities in Britain
discovered 58 dead Chinese people in a container. They had
suffocated.
Six months on, and despite extra regulations, promises,
vows and fines, the midnight express rolls on.
The hunt for illegal immigrants is a regular feature of
the night of Kurt Deschepper, a security guard at the port.
Every night, he does the rounds of trucks parked on the
port with a special probe that measures levels of carbon
dioxide (CO2). High levels of C02 will indicate a living being
inside the vehicle -- most probably an illegal immigrant.
Deschepper apprehends stowaways every night. His tally for
the past seven days alone is 70 and he expects that figure to
rise.
The immigrants do not have any papers and are often set
free the same night with a form saying that they have to leave
the Schengen area within five days. Often, he will pick up the
same refugee several times in the course of a night.
Descheppers says " If we find them we bring them to the
police, they check for any papers, and if they are illegal
they have to contact somebody who decides what to do with
them. But most of all, they set them free again. It happens
that we catch the same guy three times on the same evening."
On Wednesday, Descheppers discovered a family group of ten
-- four adults and six children who had spent more than 24
hours inside the truck. Their passage to Britain had been
delayed by bad weather. The refugees said they were ethnic
Albanians from Kosovo. The women and children were taken to a
local hospital.
Standard procedure calls for them to be issued with an order
to leave the border-free group of Schengen states within
five days. With no money and having travelled so far, it is
highly likely that they will attempt another crossing.
British officials say the Schengen countries are not doing
enough to stem the flow of illegal immigrants across the
Channel and say refugees are effectively being dumped on
Britain's doorstep.
At Europol, the European police association in the Hague,
a special unit to fight illegal immigration has been set up.
Its director, Christian Bratz, says the problem is
unlikely to go away. The trafficking of humans is a high
margin business and the operators have become far more
professional. Economic imbalances and conflicts are likely to
add thousands more to the growing tide of refugees.
"Organised illegal immigration is a crime to which is
given high priority by Europol. We will face in the near
future that this will be increasing because the complexity of
this phenomenon is so big that we cannot completely stop
illegal immigration in the near future," Batz said.
Ferry companies and drivers face tough fines if they are
caught transporting illegal immigrants. Drivers and transport
companies are charged up to 2,000 pounds sterling (3,000
United States dollars (USD)) per person and risk the seizure
of their truck.
But the freight associations and transport companies say
it is not their job to act as unofficial immigration officials
within the Schengen area. They would like to see border checks
restored.
Roos Hoorikx, the public relations manager of P&O NorthSea
Ferries told Reuters "Since three years now the borders are
open, you can travel free in Europe. So nobody is checking any
papers except when you go to a non-Schengen country which the
U.K. is. So, when people come in the U.K. without the proper
papers we get the fine, we as the transport company. It is
2000 pounds (3000 U.S. dollar) per person, thats millions and
millions of pounds (USD) per year. So we think that the
government should check the borders again. It is not up to the
transport company to do that."
Inevitably many of the illegal immigarnts will end up here,
on the truck park at Jabbeke in Belgium, waiting to sneak into
a truck the minute it parks. Some refugees are so desperate are
that they will hold onto the axles of the trucks, risking their
lives and those of their families whilst politicians debate
their futures.
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