Illegal migrants are often hitching a ride with Czech truck drivers who unknowingly transport them to the United Kingdom.when they fall to properly secure their truck while traveling through Europe.
According to the Czech authorities, the problem with migrant transport is getting worse, especially when crossing the border from France to the United Kingdom, where many migrants have successfully hidden inside trucks.
“If the migrants cut through the tarpaulin, for example, no one cares. Or if they damage the cargo, the French side doesn’t care. If you find out something happened before the booking process, you are still on the French side, but if you find out after the booking, then you are on the British territory, and there is already a penalty of £2,000 (€2,353) per migrant,” explained one of the truck drivers while describing the complexities and challenges of trucking on a route filled with illegal migrants seeking to cross into the United Kingdom.
Authorities can impose a fine of £2,000 (€2,353) for the transport of one migrant.
In the cargo area of a truck, however, the police sometimes find several migrants, resulting in large fines. Every year, dozens of Czech truck drivers are fined for the transport of migrants.
“There are times when there are more of them in the embarkation areas, for example, in Calais, or even along the road to the port city. This year, it might be related to Brexit as migrants expect major complications while transiting to the United Kingdom,” said Vojtěch Hromíř, General Secretary of the Association of Road Operators Česmad Bohemia.
According to him, everyone is anxious to see what changes 2021 will bring. He added that this year, it is likely that migrants will try to enter the UK at the last minute when free movement between the EU and the UK ends.
Even so, drivers can partially avoid fines. For example, they can voluntarily register with the UK Department of Transport, which issues a set of recommendations on how to avoid falling victim to illegal migrants.
The recommendations, in the form of a list of tasks, state what the driver has to do at each stop. Then, even if the police find illegal migrants in the truck and the driver proves that he has taken all precautionary steps to prevent this from happening, he will not be charged with any misconduct.
Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský, who has been dealing with this issue for a long time, draws attention to the problem of organized groups that entice migrants to travel to the UK.
He said that over the past three years, he and his team dealt with about a 1,000 afflicted truck drivers, their families, and companies employing the truck drivers.
“We know about at least 15 people who landed in prison in France or the UK because of suspicion of people smuggling. Europe should not punish drivers, who are just transporting goods, when illegal migrants find a way in their trucks. Authorities should focus on breaking organized groups that contact these migrants on the streets, or in refugee camps, and try to entice them to travel to the UK,” said Zdechovský.
Truck drivers suspected of purposefully organizing or facilitating illegal migration to the UK face up to 14 years in prison unconditionally.
