Man questioned over Rosslare migrants freed without charge

A man in his 30s arrested in connection with the discovery of 14 people found hidden in a shipping container at Rosslare Europort earlier this month has been released without charge, gardaí have said.

The migrants were found in refrigerated container that arrived at Rosslare Europort on January 8th. They were struggling to breathe and had cut a hole in the side of the container to allow in air.

On Wednesday, gardaí announced they have arrested a male aged in his 30s as part of their investigation.

However, on Thursday gardaí confirmed the man had been released without charge and a file will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. The investigation is ongoing, a Garda spokesman said.

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The investigation was launched after 10 Kurdish people from Iran and Iraq, including two girls aged six and four, as well one person from Turkey and three people from Vietnam were discovered on the vessel, coming from Zeebrugge in Belgium.

The nine men, three women and two girls were medically assessed and deemed to be in good health after being met by gardaí and ambulance personnel.

[ Man arrested by gardaí investigating Rosslare smuggling case ]

It is understood that during the voyage one of the migrants made a distress call to the UK Coastguard which in turn alerted Irish authorities. The captain of the ship was also alerted and he ordered a search of the ship once it docked in Rosslare.

The migrants were taken into care by the International Protection Accommodation Service and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. A number of them later left State care. The Department of Justice said they are not accused of any crime and there is no obligation on those seeking international protection to remain in State accommodation.

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