§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the measures introduced by road hauliers to check for on-board illegal immigrants prior to cross-channel ferry embarkation to the United Kingdom. [49934]
§ Angela EagleThe civil penalty provisions introduced by the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act are intended to encourage hauliers to take effective measures to prevent unauthorised persons travelling in their vehicles. The number of clandestine entrants dealt with by the Immigration Service at Dover fell from 12,679 in 2000 to 9,225 in 2001, a reduction of 27 per cent. This indicates that while many hauliers have taken steps to properly1166W secure their vehicles against unauthorised entry, a large number have not implemented effective systems to prevent this traffic.
Because of the high volume of cross-channel freight traffic, the security measures and checks employed by hauliers can only be assessed in respect of individual vehicles selected for examination upon arrival in the United Kingdom.
When vehicles are selected for examination at Dover, whether or not they are found to contain clandestine entrants, an assessment is made of the security measures in place. On average some 48 per cent. of vehicles examined are assessed as being properly secured.