an investigation was opened for human trafficking after the arrival of 14 migrants in a container

Irish police announced on Wednesday January 10 the opening of an investigation into human trafficking after the discovery of 14 migrants in a refrigerated container that arrived Monday by ferry at the port of Rosslare (Ireland). Agents were “warned by the British authorities”, which allowed them to wait for the arrival of the boat with the emergency services, she said in a press release.

The ferry docked in the small port of Rosslare on Monday, around three in the morning. The nine men, three women and two children who were there were examined by doctors and are in “good health”. The Irish Minister of Transport, Eamon Ryan, told the press on Wednesday of his “relief”this crossing of several dozen hours in a refrigerated container having raised fears of hypothermia or asphyxiation of the passengers.

Distress call from a passenger

Officers from Wexford Police and teams from the National Immigration Service are now investigating the circumstances of their arrival, in conjunction with Europol in The Hague. The Irish police did not provide information on the nationality of the 14 passengers. But according to the Irish media RTE, ten of the passengers are Kurds, three Vietnamese and one Turk, and the boat arrived from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. “If they decide to request asylum (…) we will try to process their request as quickly as possible”also assured Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

It was the British police in Cornwall who were alerted thanks to a distress call made by one of the passengers, he said. Irish Road Transport Association spokesman Eugene Drennan told RTE that the container carrying the migrants had been loaded onto a truck south of Paris, and was believed to be a “stroke of luck” that there were no deaths in these conditions.