Published on Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Belgian PM tells Zhu he
regrets deaths
REUTERS in Brussels
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt appealed on Monday for Europe
and China to work together to fight human trafficking following the
deaths of 58 mainland Chinese immigrants in the back of a truck
bound for Britain.
''I would like to offer my deepest condolences,'' Mr Verhofstadt
said in a speech at a dinner in honour of Prime Minister Zhu Rongji,
who is making a three-day official visit to Belgium and European
Union (EU) institutions.
''I would like to plead for renewed co-operation between the
European Union and China. It is only by working together that we can
defeat the human traffickers,'' Mr Verhofstadt said.
The 58 Chinese were found dead, apparently of suffocation, in the
back of a Dutch-registered tomato truck when it arrived in Dover,
Britain, on June 19 after taking a night ferry from the Belgian port
of Zeebrugge. Two illegal immigrants survived.
The truck driver has been charged with 58 counts of manslaughter,
and other arrests in Britain and the Netherlands have been made in
relation to the incident. Police believe the mainlanders were
victims of a mafia-like smuggling ring.
The grim discovery led to controversy in Belgium about the level
of customs controls at Zeebrugge. The home affairs committee of
Belgium's upper house of parliament will vote on Wednesday on
whether to launch an inquiry.
Mr Verhofstadt told Zhu that he would make the fight against
human traffickers a key issue for Belgium's presidency of the EU in
the second half of 2001. He noted that the EU and Beijing were due
to hold a regular summit during the Belgian presidency.
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