Stowaway fines on the rise, but revenue static
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CM COVER STORY joanna.bourkefdrbi.co.uk
THE NUMBER OF penalties issued to drivers and hauliers for harbouring stowaways increased by 90% last year. but the amount of revenue the UK Border Agency (UKBA) derived from these fines only rose by £100,000.
Figures obtained through the Freedom of Information (Fol) Act by CM reveal that in 2009, 3,245 penalty notices were issued to drivers and firms for 'failing to operate an effective system to prevent illegal immigrants entering the UK'; almost double the 1,700 issued in 2008.
The penalties raised £1.6m, compared with il.5m in 2008. Currently, an HMI driver or haulage firm can each face a fine of £2,000 per stowaway if it is deemed they did not have adequate steps in place to secure their load.
A UKBA spokeswoman says: -It must be remembered that not all fines from 2009 will have been paid [yet], so the revenue is likely to rise."
The FoI request also reveals that UKBA blocked 29,323 clandestine attempts to enter Britain by way of an HGV in 2009 at juxtaposed controls in UK and French ports: a 4.7% rise on the 28,000 reported by UKBA in 2008.
The fines were issued at ports including: Bristol; Dover; I larwich; I lull; Humberside; Newhaven: Portsmouth; Ramsgate; and Thames Corridor ports; as well as juxtaposed controls in Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk.
Don Armour, manager of international services at the Freight Transport Association. says: -We have also been hearing of clandestines using increasingly
desperate measures to enter the UK, targeting dangerous vehicles that they think arc less likely to get picked up. such as tankers and refrigerated vehicles."
Geoff Hill. MD at Lincoln-based Rase Distribution. tells CM his firm frequently receives European loads where there is evidence of stowaways, including nappies and drinks bottles left in trailers.
-On one occasion a truck stopped outside our gates and within minutes we observed four people jump out of the side of the vehicle. The police were contacted
and the illegal immigrants were quickly apprehended in the countryside," he says.
Hill concludes: believe the penalties are too severe for drivers, and that authorities should provide better control at border crossings. Drivers are diligent in checking vehicles, but limited to a point, as some stowaways are incredibly resourceful in finding ways of hitching a ride under any circumstances.
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