The police arrested the large group of illegal immigrants in a light truck near the dunes of Oostduinkerke. — © jhm
Last night, the local police arrested a group of 30 transmigrants in Oostduinkerke. They were ready to make the crossing to the United Kingdom.
Last night, the West Coast police found about thirty transmigrants in a closed light truck without windows. This would mainly concern people of Vietnamese origin. Some were wet and had life jackets on. The security forces suspect that they had already been to the beach, the dunes and the water to look for a boat for the crossing to the United Kingdom. Perhaps they returned and waited for a signal until they could step towards the sea and clamber into a boat there.
Following the facts, two suspects were arrested. Further investigation will have to determine whether they are involved in human smuggling. The West Flemish public prosecutor’s office has started an investigation. The transmigrants themselves were interrogated and placed in jail.
Recently, transmigrants have been appearing more often off our coast. Two weeks ago, a group of about seventy refugees was found in a rubber boat in the North Sea off the coast of Koksijde. At least twenty boats are said to have risked the crossing to the UK that weekend.
“We knew we were going to have problems from May onwards,” said police chief Nicholas Paelinck to the Belga press agency. In addition to the better weather, stricter controls in France would also play a role. In addition, refugee camps near Paris are being cleared in the run-up to the Olympic Games. British plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda in the future may also play a role.
The UK Border Force wants to counter the problem by investing in so-called Small Boat Teams on the Belgian coast. The file must still be approved by the federal police.
