Two children among 16 rescued from lorry container on Rosslare ferry
Two juveniles were among the 16 males rescued from the back of a lorry on a ferry which docked in Rosslare yesterday. The two have now been taken into the care of the child protection agency, Tusla.
The authorities now believe the 16 males are all Kurdish. Meanwhile, the Government has admitted it has no idea how many people are being smuggled into Ireland.
Gardai are this afternoon, continuing to carry out a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the 16 males onboard the Stena Line Horizon Ferry yesterday afternoon.
All the males are believed to be of Kurdish ethnicity, however, formal identification is ongoing. They have been removed to an accommodation centre in Dublin where they are being handled by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA).
Fourteen males are adults and have sought “international protection” will now be processed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS).
Two of the 16 are believed to under 18 years of age and are currently in the care of Tusla.
This morning, Immigration Minister David Stanton, admitted the Government does not know how many people are being smuggled into the country.
“It’s a clandestine operation,” the Minister said.
“We don’t have any figures for the amount being smuggled. I do know the gardai, the authorities and the government is taking it very seriously and doing all they can to deter people from taking this route.”
Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Northern Irish man was arrested in the UK this morning in connection with the deaths of 39 people found dead in the back of a container lorry in Essex last month.
The man was arrested on the M40 motorway in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, on suspicion of conspiracy to traffic people and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.
He is the third man arrested in relation to the horrific incident.
The driver of the lorry, Mo Robinson(25), from county Armagh, is to appear London’s Old Bailey next week on manslaughter and trafficking charges, while Eamonn Harrison (22) from Mayobridge in county Down, is facing extradition to the UK over the deaths.
