3-year-old girl among refugees found in lorry

A THREE-YEAR- OLD girl was found in a lorry in New Ross on Sunday, having been smuggled into the country.

The girl, whose stated address is Iraq, was found in the back of the lorry at O’Leary International in Marshmeadows with three men and one woman from the Middle East.

Sergeant Eddie Wilde said the people with the child, who are all aged in their twenties, were discovered at 6 p.m. having travelled from a foreign port earlier that day into Rosslare Europort.

Noises from the back of the lorry alerted one of the company’s staff who immediately contacted gardaí. who arrived at the scene in numbers on Sunday evening. Sgt Wilde said: ‘ They were all in good health but were taken for medical assessment to Wexford General Hospital as a precaution.’

The refugees were then taken to Wexford Garda Station for questioning.

‘ The matter is still under investigation,’ Sgt Wilde said.

He said the route the refugees came from is not being released as it is part of the investigation.

‘It is now known if they are related as the last names given are not similar. It appears that they travelled together and spent less than a day in the lorry,’ Sgt Wilde said.

In February of this year nine male refugees were discovered huddled inside the back of a truck in New Ross that had arrived at Rosslare Port.

They had been hidden inside the trailer for at least two days.

Chief Superintendent John Roche said there is an increased garda presence at Rosslare Europort due to the heightened security threat of Isis across the continent.

Supt Roche said as a result several significant arrests have been made in recent weeks and a stolen car was seized.

He said several people who had false documents have been sent back to their outgoing port from Rosslare Europort. A car was also seized and searches are ongoing at the port, he added.