Five Vietnamese found in caravan at Hoek van Holland ferry; Two Britons arrested
Five Vietnamese nationals were found Saturday evening inside a caravan at the ferry terminal in Hoek van Holland, and two British men were arrested on suspicion of human smuggling, Dutch authorities said. The case is the latest in a string of recent stowaway discoveries in the region.
During a routine check of a vehicle waiting to board a ferry to the United Kingdom, the Koninklijke Marechaussee discovered the migrants. The caravan was being towed by a car driven by two British men, ages 38 and 46, who were taken into custody on suspicion of human smuggling, Rijnmond reported. All five people found inside the caravan are Vietnamese, the Marechaussee said.
The discovery follows several similar incidents in a short period. One week earlier, Marechaussee officers found 17 migrants hidden inside a refrigerated trailer at the same Hoek van Holland harbor. Six of the stowaways were minors, including children ages 3 and 4.
In a separate incident Friday evening, five migrants from Afghanistan and Iraq were intercepted in the harbor area of Vlaardingen after being found inside a truck.
“It is certainly striking,” a spokesperson for the Koninklijke Marechaussee said of the recent discoveries. “But it is too early to speak of a trend.”
The spokesperson added that the overall number of stowaways attempting to travel this way has declined sharply in recent years. About 600 stowaways per year were previously detected at such locations, but in recent years that number has dropped to only dozens annually, making the cluster of recent cases unusual.
