Kurdish family found hiding in port trailer
A group of eight Kurdish refugees were taken to hospital for check-ups after being detected in the back of a lorry trailer after being smuggled into Rosslare Europort from France.
The eight, all members of the same family, were questioned by immigration police at the port after being detained at a garda immigration check point following their arrival at around 4.30 p.m. last Thursday.
‘ They were all in good health,’ said a garda spokesman.
He said the refugees were discovered hidden in a curtain-sided trailer which which had been loaded on the Stena ferry at Cherbourg. As a precaution, two ambulances were sent to the port to pick up the refugees - four adults, two teenagers and two children - and take them to Wexford General Hospital, but they did not require medical treatment.
‘ They are expected to apply for asylum,’ said the garda spokesman. The eight are now in Dublin where their applications are being processed. Earlier this year, immigration officers at Rosslare Europort discovered 14 people hidden in the back of a refrigerated trailer unit, which also arrived from France. They did not need medical treatment.
• Meanwhile, in another incident, five Kurdish men found in an articulated trailer unit at Rosslare Europort after arriving from France were sent back to Roscoff, in Brittany, a few hours later.
Gardai said the men were discovered after the ferry arrived from the French port at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
‘ They were removed, provided with food and medical assistance, although they didn’t need any medical help,’ said Inspector Denis Whelan.
‘ They were returned to Roscoff the same day.’
Inspector Whelan said that unlike the family of eight which arrived at the port on a trailer a few days earlier, none of those who landed on Saturday, had applied for asylum.