Fifteen Eritrean migrants that were mounted in a refrigeration truck for the United Kingdom was rescued on a rest area on the A26 motorway on Saturday in Saint-Hilaire-Cottes (Pas-de-Calais), some in hypothermia.
These migrants, of which was only one woman, were rescued after the Moroccan driver of the truck, who was carrying vegetables, pointed out that he heard blows inside his trailer, reported the director of cabinet of the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, Christian Vedelago. “Their hypothermia suggests that they have been there for several hours,” he added.
Several migrants under an OQTF
Four of them were hospitalized for hypothermia, while four others, “who declared themselves minors”, were taken care of by the association France Terre d’Asile. Those who had not left the place very quickly were placed in restraint and were under hearing on Saturday afternoon, according to Christian Vedelago.
Several of them are under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), he said. The truck driver “is not worried”, according to the same source. Despite the extent of the safety devices around the port of Calais and the under the Channel, migrants are still trying to get into trucks that go to England.
In recent years, most of the candidates for exile have, however, fell back to clandestine sea crossings aboard makeshift boats, a solution generally much more expensive than trucks, and also very dangerous.