Two Dutch facing eight years in Latvian prison for people smuggling

Two Dutch people face up to eight years in prison in Latvia. They are suspected of involvement in the illegal transport of migrants to the European Union. Suspects Abdulaal Hussein and Martine Doppen told NOS that they were trying to rescue Abdulaal’s sister and four other asylum seekers, who had been abandoned by human smugglers on a farm without food and water. “I knew the risks, but I wanted to save my sister,” Abdulaal told the broadcaster.

The Latvian border guard arrested Hussein and Doppen on 20 November 2023 with two asylum seekers in the car while they were on their way to Lithuania. It is illegal in Latvia to transport asylum seekers across the border.

Hussein fled to the Netherlands from Sudan, where he opposed the government, in 2016 and now has Dutch nationality. His sister Mabroka decided to flee Sudan last year because she felt increasingly unsafe. Hussein paid people smugglers, who arranged a Russian visa for Mabroka in Egypt. From Russia, they took her to the border between Belarus and Latvia. There, she had to walk through the forests to Latvia herself.

The smugglers then took her to a farm and promised to pick her up again soon and take her to Germany. But that never happened. She was abandoned there with four other asylum seekers from Sudan and Chad with no food to eat and no water to drink. Every now and again, the smugglers appeared to tell Mabroka to text her brother for extra money. He transferred thousands of euros extra, most recently on November 18. By that time, Mabroka had barely eaten for six days and was melting snow to get water.

Hussein and his girlfriend Doppen, therefore, decided to fly to Lithuania and try to get his sister themselves. They rented a car and drove to the farm in Latvia, where they found the five starving people. Hussein and Doppen drove Maborka and two other women to a Lithuanian apartment they rented in Lithuania, a two-hour drive away. They returned for the other two refugees they left behind and got arrested on their way back to Lithuania.

Hussein and Doppen ended up in pre-trial custody, and the two asylum seekers were deported to Belarus. The Dutch were initially charged with the “illegal movement of persons across the state border,” which carries a maximum sentence of six years. Later, the Latvian authorities also charged them with belonging to the human smuggling organization that abandoned Maborka and the others on the farm. That carries a maximum prison sentence of eight years.

“I have sometimes thought: I wish I had only saved my sister and left the others behind. But I couldn’t do it. They would have died, and I would never forgive myself for that,” Hussein told NOS. Hussein swears he is part of no organization. “I just wanted to save my sister.”

Doppen was in pre-trial custody for two days and then released on 6,000 euros bail. Hussein spent 1.5 months in custody and got out on bail of 30,000 euros. “I was put in the most dangerous part of the prison with all kinds of members of the Wagner group. My cellmate was a murderer, and they were very racist. I was also barely fed, and I lost nine kilos.” Hussein must await his trial in Latvia. Doppen was allowed to leave the country. It is not yet clear when the trial will take place.

Mabroka has made it to the Netherlands and is awaiting her asylum procedure.