AMSTERDAM: Talks have opened between Dutch, Belgian and British officials to try to prevent the ferry ports at the Hook of Holland and Zeebrugge becoming the new flashpoints for migrants attempting to enter the UK – now that security has been tightened substantially at Calais.
Dutch military police have been stationed at the Hook of Holland, near Rotterdam, since June, when 68 people, including two pregnant women and 15 children, were found locked in four cargo containers that had been shipped from the Netherlands to the English port of Harwich.
There are also regular attempts to enter the UK from Zeebrugge in Belgium, but the route from the Hook of Holland to Harwich is already known for its “carousel system” – where migrants found attempting to enter Britain are deported back to the Netherlands, before trying again.
Although June’s discovery of 68 stowaways – 35 from Afghanistan, 22 from China, 10 from Vietnam and one from Russia – was the largest to date, there have also been many others detained in recent months, including 18 Afghans found on a ferry, and nine Albanians in a lorry waiting to board.
