UK/Netherlands: The Dover-case
01 November 2000
On 18 June, 58 migrants from China were found dead in a lorry at the port of Dover (see Statewatch vol 10, no 3/4). In the aftermath of this tragedy the UK government and the French Presidency of the EU called for stronger measures against the trafficking of human beings. The Dutch Minister of Justice, Mr B Korthals, also called for more international cooperation.
In the weeks after the tragedy Dutch police arrested nearly all of the traffickers involved. There was one exception: the organiser of the lorry, Gürzul O. Lawyers defending other suspects discovered several unusual aspects about the case. The lawyers, Doedens and Boone, found out that Gürzul O had been under investigation by the Rotterdam police for several months. Suddenly, the Friday before the Dover journey the police stopped the observation of Gürzul O., which had started on 25 February. Doedens and Boone suggested that police investigators were carrying out an undercover controlled delivery operation. Such operations were heavily criticised by the van Traa Commission in the nineties, when was discovered that police tried to infiltrate in criminal organisations by carrying out undercover controlled delivery operation.
After the van Traa Commission police had to stop these operations, but an exception was made for the trafficking of human beings. If an operation did not endanger the people involved and if the operation is authorised by the minister, it can be carried out. In the Dutch parliament Mr Korthals was called on to respond to these new facts. He claimed that police stopped the surveillance on the Friday - just before the lorry went to Dover - because of the Euro 2000 football championship.
There were too few police, according to Korthals, and even the police observation unit had to stop their normal work. He released the more than 1,000 pages of "surveillance" files, in which it was recorded that Gürzul O. was under observation. According to Korthals Gürzul O. was being observed in a preliminary investigation and "there was no real indication he was involved in the trafficking of human beings". But the lawyers asked why the police did not tap the suspects phones? It is quite normal (even a norm) to tap suspects when they are under observation. If they had been tapping the suspect they must have known about the Dover trip. An earlier arrest of one of the traffickers in April was also not recorded by the Rotterdam police.
Finally Dutch parliament found out that Gürzul O. had a long history of trafficking. On 30 october 1998 he was arrested at Schiphol airport. The French police were looking for him in a case of trafficking in Southern France. After being extradited to France Gürzul O. was imprisoned for six months. Also in 1998 the UK Suffolk police force sent a fax to the Rotterdam police in which they state that they suspected Gürzul O. of trafficking.
Faced with all these facts, and remembering his own statement that Gürzul O was not known as a trafficker, Korthals agreed to examine cooperation between different police units.