Greek police arrest Georgian truck driver for transporting 41 illegal migrants to Greece

Greek police have arrested a 40-year-old Georgian national who was caught driving a refrigerated truck with 41 migrants in the back, the Guardian reports.

They intended to get to Europe illegally.

Eight people were rushed to hospital with respiratory problems.

The vehicle’s refrigeration system had broken down by the time the truck was stopped at a motorway toll station outside the city of Xanthi in north-east Greece.

The guardian reports that:

• The majority of the passengers are of Afghan origin, mostly men from 20 to 30
• There were also children in the truck
• The refrigerator was turned off, though the migrants were so sick that they couldn’t get to Thessaloniki
• The majority of the migrants planned to move to other EU countries
• The truck entered Greece from Turkey
• The police stopped the driver based on preliminary obtained information

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International media are discussing the case in the context of the discovery of 39 dead bodies, all believed to be Vietnamese nationals, who were found by UK police in the back of a refrigerated lorry in Essex last week.

Two male lorry drivers appeared in court in the UK and Ireland last week. They were charged for manslaughter and human trafficking.

Eight people were arrested on Monday in connection with the incident in Vietnam, according to state media outlets.

Greece is currently experiencing a large influx of asylum seekers from Turkey.

Most of the asylum seekers want to reach other parts of Europe.

Since Europe’s refugee crisis in 2015, more than a million people have landed on the shores of Lesbos, Samos and other Aegean islands.