Human trafficking investigation after migrants found in shipping container
- Published
Irish police have begun a human trafficking investigation after 14 people were found in a shipping container in County Wexford.
The discovery was made at Rosslare Europort at 03:00 local time on Monday as the trailer came off a ferry from Zeebrugge.
Gardaí (Irish police) were alerted by UK authorities in advance.
A plan was put in place in anticipation of their arrival.
The nine men, three women and two girls have been seen by medics and are in good health.
Irish broadcaster RTÉ has reported that they include Kurdish people from Iran and Iraq, as well as people from Vietnam and Turkey.
Police in Cornwall received a distress call from a Kurdish woman in the container and the captain ordered a search of the ship, RTÉ said.
The migrants are now under the care of International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) and Ireland's child and family agency Tusla is also involved.
The investigation is being led by gardaí in Wexford and supported by the Garda National Immigration Bureau.
They are liaising with police and customs in the UK, France and Belgium, as well as Europol and Interpol.
Gardaí are interviewing the migrants with the assistance of interpreters.
They are trying to find out where they got into the refrigerated container.
It was loaded south of Paris and driven to the port in Belgium.
RTÉ said it was believed they broke a hole in the trailer to access oxygen.
A spokesperson for the gardaí said that the nine men, three women, and two girls were all in good health.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said they can choose to apply for asylum or leave voluntarily.
"Our first response is always a humanitarian one - to check that they are alive and in good health, and my understanding is that they are," he said.
"Our next step now is to facilitate voluntary return - their return home if they're willing to go home.
"If they choose to apply for asylum, they are legally entitled to do that and we'll try and process the application as quickly as possible."