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E40 car park closes to combat human trafficking

10:10 08/04/2014

The car park on the E40 at Westkerke between Bruges and Nieuwpoort, will close in June for six months, Flemish mobility minister Hilde Crevits said, in an effort to put an end to illegal activities taking place there.

The car park has no services or sanitary facilities, making it the perfect spot, Crevits said, for “illegal practices such as human trafficking and theft of cargo”. Human trafficking is particularly common, as the road leads to the French Channel ports and is used by traffic heading ultimately for the UK.

Just last week, a court in Bruges sentenced eight Kurds to terms of up to eight years for smuggling immigrants using the car parks along the E40 at Westkerke, Jabbeke and Mannekensvere. According to the prosecutor, the smugglers went about armed and intimidated other users of the car parks. Truck drivers often use the space to rest and sleep.

However the socialist trade union BTB, which represents truckers, complained that the closure, which affects the car park on the France-bound carriageway, was “a drastic decision”. Representative Frank Moreels explained that “if the car parks are not available, drivers will park their vehicles on the hard shoulder, which leads to another set of risks”. And he questioned whether an increased police presence would not be more effective than closing the car park. 

Written by Alan Hope