MIGRANTS FORCED TO PIERCE HOLE IN TRUCK CANVAS TO SAVE THEIR LIVES
THE 14 migrants who stowed away from France to Rosslare managed to save their lives by piercing a hole in the refrigerated trailer’s canvas during their perilous 30-hour journey.
Ten Kurdish nationals from Iran and Iraq, two of whom are children, along with three Vietnamese people and one from Turkey were struggling to breathe in the sealed container while on board the Finnlines ship ‘Finnsky’ on Sunday night.
It’s understood they were directed onto the trailer from south Paris by human traffickers before being driven to the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, four hours away.
As they were being ferried across the sea, the migrants were forced to endure temperatures as low as -1C for approximately 26 hours.
During the voyage their situation had become so grim that they feared they would suffocate.
Thankfully, those on board had the strength to tear a hole in the canvas in a desperate attempt to get fresh air.
One of the female Kurdish stowaways also managed to make a distress call to the coastguard in Cornwall.
Authorities in the UK then contacted gardaí in Dublin where an emergency response was initiated.
A number of units from the National Ambulance Service, the gardaí and immigration officers greeted the vessel when it arrived at around 3am on Monday morning. The migrants were assessed by medical personnel and subsequently questioned by gardaí at the terminal building in Rosslare Europort.
Once they were deemed fit and well, the migrants were brought to the Citywest refugee facility in Dublin for processing. A Garda spokesman said last night that they have begun a human-trafficking investigation.
‘Gardaí attached to Wexford Garda Station, supported by the Garda National Immigration Bureau, are investigating all of the circumstances of this incident.
‘They are liaising closely with international counterparts through Europol in The Hague. The ship’s crew are assisting An Garda Síochána with these enquiries,’ the Garda spokesman said.
The migrants are now under the care of International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) and Tusla.
Eugene Drennan, former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, believes ‘a sophisticated and experienced’ criminal gang is responsible.
‘Irish trucks generally take the shorter route of Dover-Calais, so perhaps there was a belief that the trailer these migrants were put on was bound for the UK via a direct ferry.
‘Although we don’t know the exact circumstances, I don’t believe the driver of the truck was in any way involved.
‘He was probably parked and asleep at a designated station when they were snuck inside.
‘These gangs are able to take the hinges off a trailer and get people on in as little as 15 minutes. They’re quite sophisticated and very experienced in this illegal activity.’
Mr Drennan added that the migrants would have had no idea that they were coming to Ireland.
‘They were inside this chilled container which was about -1C. Their lives were very much in danger since they were struggling to breathe so, thankfully, they were able to force a hole in the canvas and alert the UK coast guard.
‘It must have been a horrific experience and we’re very lucky there were no casualties,’ he said.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said everything must be done to try and prevent refugees from being smuggled into countries because of the risk to life that the journeys pose.
‘We have to do everything we can to try and avoid such carriage and passage because it is dangerous and a risk to the lives of those who are put on or go on to those trucks,’ he said. ‘We have to do what we can to reduce it but you cannot completely eliminate it. We’ve seen that with the UK Government and France, trying to stop that passage. It is practically impossible to completely avoid it.’
Emergency response initiated