Illegal immigrants travel thousands of miles from China... only to be stopped in Jersey

Tuesday 27 October 2015

A pair of illegal immigrants who had travelled all the way from China on forged passports were stopped by Immigration Officers on Sunday evening.

The pair – a man and a woman – arrived in Jersey from St Malo, and were thought to be trying to use the Island as a “back door” to the UK.

They were travelling on forged Taiwanese passports, and were kept overnight in custody and then sent back to France where they were met by border police.

So far this year, 17 people have been stopped at the ports for trying to enter the Island illegally. Ten of those have been using forged passports.

Andrew Hunt, Assistant Director, Frontiers & Investigation said that there was a trend of people trying to get to the UK through Jersey.

He said: “These, and previous refusals of three other Chinese nationals in April, indicate that people facilitating the illegal entry of others will test the resilience of Jersey’s immigration controls as a point of entry into the Common Travel Area.

“It emphasises the importance of the Island maintaining strong and professional border controls at our ports.”

Anyone with any information on illegal immigration, drug smuggling or duty smuggling can speak to a Customs officer in confidence on 0800 7355555.