Kicked out by us, let go by Germans!
MIGRANTS caught trying to sneak into Britain on ships from Germany are being sent back – and immediately freed to try again.
Two Albanians deported after being found on a freighter arriving in Immingham, Lincolnshire, this week were let go within hours of arriving in Germany.
They are among scores of young men from Albania released without charge after being discovered trying to smuggle themselves on to UK-bound cargo in the port town of Cuxhaven, close to Hamburg.
German police have launched a crackdown after illegal immigrants used the North Sea port to open a new route into the UK.
But officers say there is no law to prosecute those they catch trying to stow away, so they have to release them.
Most are ordered to leave Germany within seven days, but officers admit there is no realistic way of enforcing this.
Several have been caught again days later trying to get back into the port and smuggle themselves on to another UK-bound ship.
The farcical situation comes amid concerns Germany is becoming a springboard for immigrants wishing to enter Britain illegally.
Critics blame Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow more than a million migrants into the country last year. Two Albanians, aged 22 and 24, sneaked on to a ship in Cuxhaven last week and made it to Immingham before being detected. They pair were escorted back to Cuxhaven by private secu- rity firm on Tuesday and handed to German Federal police immediately after landing.
Officers took their fingerprints photographed and interviewed them for an official report, before letting them go. Federal Police spokesman Holger Jureczko said: ‘They have been told they must leave Germany within seven days, but it is possible we may see them again at the port soon. This has happened in the past. Some of them have been captured again a few nights later.
‘But we have no other choice. There is no law that we can take them to a prison or before a judge.’
The pair are meant to pay the cost of deporting them, but it is unlikely they can afford it and the cash will probably never be recovered, police said.
Most of those attempting to get into the port of Cuxhaven from Albania or Kosovo, and are believed to share messages about the new route on social media. They head to Cuxhaven from across mainland Europe.
One of the Albanians deported from Immingham had travelled to Cuxhaven by train from Belgium and another via Italy.
Most scale the gates surrounding the port and then slit open the roof of lorries, lower themselves in, and reseal the cut with tape.
Other sneak into lorries as they are parked at fast food restaurants near the port.
Cuxhaven is the only port in Germany with direct sea links with Britain.
German police say 65 people have been caught in the port in the last nine months. Another seven were stopped in Immingham. Mr Jureczko said police and port operators had increased security believe the majority of illegal migrants are now being apprehended.