Last year, 150 transmigrants were arrested in the port area of Zeebrugge (West Flanders). 80 per cent of them entered the port in lorries. This is a slight increase compared to 2024, according to figures from West Flanders Governor Carl De Caluwé. Currently, climbing into lorries in the port area as a stowaway is a criminal offence, but the law is being extended. From 8 April, it will also be a criminal offence to climb on board a lorry outside the port.
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Transmigrant crisis: Climbing aboard lorries outside the port of Zeebrugge to become a criminal offence
Colin Clapson
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The port of Zeebrugge has been well secured for years with cameras and fences to stop transmigrants stowing away on lorries or ferries bound for the UK. Nevertheless, last year 120 people still managed to enter the port in a lorry. Only 18 of them got in by forcing their way through the fence around the port. ‘This means that the security system is working, but vigilance remains necessary,’ says provincial councillor Kurt Himpe.
New law on climbing into vehicles without invitation
Because the port is so well secured, human traffickers are turning to motorway car parks throughout the country as a means of getting stowaways on their way to the UK . There, they let the migrants climb aboard lorries. From 8 April, this will also be a criminal offence.
Flemish lawmaker Maaike De Vreese (Flemish nationalist N-VA): ‘The new law is part of the new penal code. Not only in the port, but throughout the country, it will become a criminal offence to climb into vehicles with the intention of crossing the English Channel.’
‘Climbing into vehicles can result in life-threatening situations, causes economic damage and puts enormous pressure on lorry drivers who no longer feel safe in motorway car parks. It is therefore only natural that a clear signal is being dispatched saying the practice is not acceptable.’