Dubai: Twenty-four Kuwaiti men, including a 17-year-old, were arrested by the UK Border Agency while trying to sneak into the country, at the Port of Harwich two days ago.
The Kuwaitis were found in a lorry aboard a ferry coming from Holland and they were detained along with the lorry driver who have been arrested on charges of facilitating illegal immigration.
In a statement sent to the Kuwait Times, Brian Hill, the UK Border Agency Assistant Director at Harwich, said: "When officers opened the doors of the trailer they found the stowaways hiding inside among a mixed load of goods."
Hill also explained that this was the largest group of illegal immigrants found at Harwich that he could recall.
In an interview with the Kuwait Times, a spokesman for the UK Border Agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that the stowaways were being transferred to the Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre.
The spokesperson refused to provide further information when asked if the authorities had informed the Kuwaiti embassy in the UK about the arrest and if they would release the names of people who were arrested.
The head of the consular section at the Kuwait Embassy in London Mohammad Al Sharji said that the they were not informed of the case, and he suspects that the detained are not Kuwaitis, because as per rules, the British government should inform them at first.
