HC Deb 16 January 2003 vol 397 cc759-60W
Mr. Wray

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to provide protection for vehicles against illegal immigrants at seaports; and whether civil penalties for unknowingly carrying illegal immigrants will be withdrawn. [90325]

Beverley Hughes

The Immigration Service uses a wide range of technology to detect clandestine entrants, including heartbeat detectors, passive millimetric wave imagers and CO2 detectors. However, responsibility for protecting vehicles in order to prevent the carriage of unauthorised people properly lies with the vehicle operator and not with the Immigration Service. Carriers who comply fully with the Code of Practice for the prevention of clandestine entry, and who have no knowledge or suspicion of the presence of unauthorised people, will not be liable to a penalty. If liability is incurred, the level of penalty set will take into account mitigating factors which will include the extent of any checks, including those using CO2 or other detection equipment, carried out by third parties immediately prior to embarkation for the UK.

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