Surge in arrests of alleged UK-bound people-smugglers
The number of people arrested by police after allegedly trying to smuggle people on ferries from Dutch ports into Britain has surged, according to the authorities in the Netherlands.
A total of 32 alleged smugglers have been arrested since the beginning of the year by police operating in the Rotterdam area, Europe’s busiest port, compared with a total of 20 during all of 2015. Previously, Dutch prosecutors charged just 23 suspects in 2013 and 2014 combined.
Among those whose cases are now making their way through the Dutch courts are a British man and woman, aged 39 and 38, who were detained with two people in the trunk of their car. They were named as Essam Hamarida and Reem al-Majede, who the Dutch authorities say are both from London.
A focus has fallen recently in the UK on the possibility of small cruisers and yachts landing refugees on quiet beaches or small harbours in southern England, from Sea Palling in Norfolk to Salcombe in south Devon.
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