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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/13/refugees-found-back-of-lorry-channel-tunnel-gillingham-kent
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| Refugees found in back of lorry near Channel tunnel | Refugees found in back of lorry near Channel tunnel |
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| Nine refugees have been found hidden in the back of a lorry at a business park near the Channel tunnel. | Nine refugees have been found hidden in the back of a lorry at a business park near the Channel tunnel. |
| Police were called to Gillingham business park in Kent at 1.20pm on Friday after reports of people stowed away in a HGV. The nine were taken to Dover and handed to Home Office immigration officials, Kent police said. | Police were called to Gillingham business park in Kent at 1.20pm on Friday after reports of people stowed away in a HGV. The nine were taken to Dover and handed to Home Office immigration officials, Kent police said. |
| It is unclear whether the group had crossed the Channel following the demolition of the Calais refugee camp this month. Thousands of refugees, including more than 1,600 young asylum seekers and 300 women and children, were moved on from the camp over 10 days. | It is unclear whether the group had crossed the Channel following the demolition of the Calais refugee camp this month. Thousands of refugees, including more than 1,600 young asylum seekers and 300 women and children, were moved on from the camp over 10 days. |
| Gillingham business park is 40 minutes from the Channel tunnel and 15 minutes from four docks. | Gillingham business park is 40 minutes from the Channel tunnel and 15 minutes from four docks. |
| The group is among the first to be picked up since the closure of the Calais camp, which charities said would not stop people risking their lives to try to reach Britain. | |
| On 27 October, four refugees were spotted disembarking from a lorry in Bridge, near Canterbury, and handed over to Home Office immigration officials. On the same day, five suspected illegal immigrants were filmed in footage posted online getting out of an HGV near junction 1B of the M25 near Dartford. | On 27 October, four refugees were spotted disembarking from a lorry in Bridge, near Canterbury, and handed over to Home Office immigration officials. On the same day, five suspected illegal immigrants were filmed in footage posted online getting out of an HGV near junction 1B of the M25 near Dartford. |
| Caroline Browne, a community engagement coordinator at the Devon-based refugee charity Samphire, said: “We are not surprised to hear of new arrivals in the UK after the chaotic closure of the ‘Jungle’ in Calais. | |
| “We argued at the time and still believe this to be true that merely closing the camp, while a short-term solution for the humanitarian disaster facing people there and the terrible conditions facing lorry drivers passing through Calais, would not be a long-term solution. | “We argued at the time and still believe this to be true that merely closing the camp, while a short-term solution for the humanitarian disaster facing people there and the terrible conditions facing lorry drivers passing through Calais, would not be a long-term solution. |
| “Closing the camp does not deal with the push and pull factors that lead a small number of asylum seekers who arrive in Europe to seek sanctuary in the UK. While these push and pull factors still exist and the UK continues to be slow in creating safe routes for refugees to arrive some people will continue risking their lives to cross to the UK and seek asylum.” | “Closing the camp does not deal with the push and pull factors that lead a small number of asylum seekers who arrive in Europe to seek sanctuary in the UK. While these push and pull factors still exist and the UK continues to be slow in creating safe routes for refugees to arrive some people will continue risking their lives to cross to the UK and seek asylum.” |
| In September, four refugees were picked up walking along the M2 two miles from Gillingham business park and taken to Home Office immigration officials. The men, aged between 22 and 33, said they were from Eritrea. It is not known how they entered the UK. |