Police are trying to figure out how the 14 people arrived at an Irish port from Belgium in a shipping container.
Two girls aged 6 and 4 and 12 adults were found alive in a refrigerated trailer on a Rosslare Europort truck on January 8, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported. Ta.
InfoMigrants reported that the discovery occurred around 3 a.m. when the truck stopped on its way to a ferry from Zeebrugge, Belgium.
Irish police said a Kurdish woman inside the container issued a distress call before the ship reached port. The report was received by the British Coast Guard and notified to Irish authorities.
Ireland’s Transport Minister Eamonn Ryan said he was relieved the migrants were safe. Officials said they may have been trapped in the container for 24 hours at -4 degrees Celsius, had difficulty breathing and had to cut a hole in the side of the container.
Despite the difficult circumstances, all 14 people were reported to be in good health, and Eugene Drennan, former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, said it was only by chance that a terrible death could have been avoided. I consider myself lucky.
The majority of the migrants, including the two girls, were Kurds from Iran and Iraq.
Mr Drennan said it was clear the incident was the work of an experienced smuggling group.
The truck was completely sealed…some guy had to know how to operate the locks and seals.Immigrants may have believed they were heading to England.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins stressed the need to understand why people are at risk of smuggling.
We have not done enough to listen to the truly desperate. If we want to understand immigration, we have to look at the final straw effect, where people borrow money and turn to human traffickers.
The 14 migrants were taken to the Asylum Seeker Accommodation (IPAS). It was recently confirmed that migrants rescued from shipping containers in Rosslare will not be tracked by the Department of Integration.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said migrants could decide to seek asylum in the country or leave voluntarily.