POLICE at two French ports intercepted a total of 34 Romanians carrying stolen passports as they attempted to board ferries for Ireland. The French authorities say the illegal immigrants travelled with the help of an international network. Their final destination was to be Dublin.
Six couples and their 17 children were arrested at Roscoff, Brittany, at 11 p.m. last Friday as they were about to board a passenger boat bound for Cork. A French official said that the Romanians were travelling with Spanish passports which they had bought in Madrid.
The six families were said to have lived in Spain for some time. They told French authorities they were on their way to Ireland for a holiday. At a special court hearing in Morlaix this week, the six couples were charged with carrying false papers and remanded in custody. The children were placed in care.
A second group of Romanians was stopped at the Channel port of Cherbourg on Friday morning. Inquiries revealed that some of their travel documents were said to have been stolen in Italy. An immigration officer based in Cherbourg said that the three women and their two children were intending to travel to Ireland via Britain and belonged to the same group as the other Romanians arrested at Roscoff the same day. They had been brought to Cherbourg by German drivers.
The Cherbourg state prosecutor decided not to take court action against the three women. They were taken to the Franco German border and handed over to German authorities.