Almost nine out of 10 truck drivers fined in 2008 for harbouring stowaways in their lorries were foreign-registered, the latest UK Border Agency (UKBA) statistics reveal.
In 2008, 1,571 non-UK HGV drivers were fined after illegal immigrants were found hiding in their lorries, compared to 195 British truckers – just 11% of the total.
The fines account for a total of 28,000 stowaways caught trying to enter the UK via HGVs last year.
The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act and collated using locally sourced management information, a UKBA spokeswoman tells Commercial Motor.
Currently a company and driver can receive a maximum combined fine of £4,000 per clandestine entrant carried if it cannot be proved that the operator had an effective preventive system in place. The UKBA collected more than £1.5m in fines during 2008.
"Clearly many foreign truckers are abusing our immigration laws and they should be punished effectively," says shadow immigration minister Damian Green.
However according to Department for Transport (DfT) statistics, between October and December 2008, only 16% of trucks travelling between Britain and Continental Europe were UK-registered.
"UK operators only account for a quarter of the cross-Channel market so you would expect more stowaways to come via foreign trucks anyway. But with these figures so high and with new entrants to the market from Eastern European countries, where they are less aware of the problems, we can quite believe that 90% of our stowaways come via foreign drivers," says Don Armour, manager of international services at the Freight Transport Association.
UKBA adds that it will pursue all unpaid debts.
