Migrant-fined lorry drivers 'just doing their job'

Nearly £10m worth of fines were issued to hauliers last year after migrants were found in vehicles, BBC South East has discovered.

The Home Office has revealed 1,276 penalties were given out in 2023/24 where people were found in vehicles.

Dominic Graham, a manager of Alcaline Transport in Hythe, Kent, said: "These are law abiding companies and drivers in the main, who are just doing their job."

The government says fines are only issued if there is significant evidence.

Under increased fines introduced last year, anyone found to be carrying an illegal migrant - including tourists - faces a fine of up to £10,000 for each "clandestine entrant".

Mr Graham said: "We do our best to ensure it doesn't happen, but they find ways of getting into the trucks that we can't necessarily identify immediately.

"We do understand there has to be a deterrent and for those companies or drivers that are acting illegally, yes they should be fined, but the whole system needs to be reviewed," he said.

The government previously argued the measures were designed to target negligence rather than deliberate acts and anyone involved in people smuggling would face criminal prosecution rather than the civil penalty scheme.

In 2023/24 civil penalties totalling £9.5 million were issued by the Home Office, according to a freedom of information request. Over a 10 year period the fines were worth over £60m.

One haulage firm director previously said the industry risked losing drivers over the fines.

But the government also runs a Civil Penalties Accreditation Scheme, which recognises those hauliers who take measures to operate an effective system for securing goods vehicles by reducing penalty charges.

Last month the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration began an inspection of Border Force and the effectiveness of the Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme.

Detections of stowaways trying to reach the UK in freight have fallen at the juxtaposed controls in France, after additional security measures were introduced at the Channel ports.

Figures obtained by the BBC showed stowaway cases plummeted from about 83,000 in 2015 to 18,000 in 2021.

More migrants have crossed in small boats since 2018, but Lucy Moreton from the Immigration Services Union said road transport was still being targeted by smuggling gangs.

"It's not always a lorry of course, campervans are at risk.

"People towing their caravans have found people inside them."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are fully committed to stopping people from illegally entering the country and cracking down on people smugglers.

"The Clandestine Entrant Civil Penalty Scheme aims to ensure drivers are taking every reasonable step to deter irregular migration and disrupt people smugglers.”

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