Disturbing moment parents find migrants hiding in coach full of kids returning to UK from school trip to France
THIS is the moment horrified parents discovered migrants hiding in a coach full of their kids returning from a school trip to France.
The stowaways were discovered in the luggage hold as they arrived home from the three-day trip.
Two men, thought to be in their early 20s, were found hiding among the luggage when the hold was opened after the journey back to the UK.
One mum waiting to collect her child said the incident at Hounsdown School in Totton, Hants, was 'horrendous'.
One of the men tried to run off but was stopped by parents and one child's luggage was said to be covered in urine.
The coach had been carrying Year 9 and 10 pupils who had just come back from a three-day school trip visiting Boulogne University about 20 miles south of Calais.
MORE ON MIGRANTS
The teachers and pupils had travelled home on the coach via the Eurotunnel at Calais, returning to Totton, near Southampton, on Saturday evening.
Describing the moment the men were found, one mum said: "[My son's] luggage was covered in urine and his belongings crumpled by one of the men being on top of it.
"I asked them (in French) if they spoke English or French and they replied French, I was about to ask them where they’d come from but got ushered away by the teachers."
Following the discovery, she panicked and her only thought was to grab her 14-year-old son's baggage from the coach.
She said: “The only way I can describe it is panic mode.
"My one aim was to get my child off the bus, and once I had I went back as I couldn’t handle seeing kids being asked to take their baggage out of the hold.
"I just said 'excuse-moi' to the gent and leaned over him to get the rest of the bags out as my son's was tucked underneath him."
Posting on social media, another parent said: “Just picked my daughter up from her school trip to France. The coach driver opened up the bottom to get the suitcases and found immigrants sat in there.”
FUMING PARENTS
Several parents who saw the incident have told of their shock.
One wrote online: “I'm angry about it. They got access to a coach carrying school children.
”It's one thing to get in a lorry but a very different thing to manage to get in to a coach without being seen.”
He added: “Was an absolute shocker to see a person sat there as the kids went forward to get their bags.”
Another parent said: “My son is so upset bless him, he’s told me to cancel him going away next year with the school and has said he’d rather wait until he can pay to go when he’s older.
[My son's] luggage was covered in urine and his belongings crumpled by one of the men being on top of it.
Fuming mum
”Poor little… after such an incredible trip too! The teachers couldn’t have done a better job the whole way through, I really do feel for them right now.”
Hampshire police confirmed that officers attended but that no arrests were made.
A force spokesperson said: “We were called just before 05:15pm on Saturday, February 10, to reports that two people, who were possibly illegal immigrants, had been found at Hounsdown School in Totton.
“Officers have attended. No arrests have been made.”
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It comes as Rishi Sunak last week accepted a £1000 bet from Piers Morgan that deportation flights to Rwanda will be up and running before the election.
The Prime Minister was confronted by the TalkTV host, who told him: “I'll bet you £1,000 pounds to a refugee charity, you don't get anybody on those planes before the election. Will you take that bet?”
WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE RWANDA PLAN?
What is the Rwanda Bill?
The Rwanda Bill ignores certain human rights laws in a radical bid to get deportation flights going and end the “scourge” of illegal migration.
The plan will disapply elements of the Human Rights Act which would have exposed the government to more relentless legal delay.
By also declaring in law that Rwanda is “safe”, ministers believe courts will be forced to throw out any challenges to their flagship scheme.
The bill will also let ministers override European Court of Human Rights edicts to block planes from taking off, like the one grounded at the last minute in 2022.
What happens next?
Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill has cleared the House of Commons and its first major hurdle in the House of Lords, but faces a bruising ride as the Archbishop of Canterbury warned it is “leading the nation down a damaging path”. Peers will seek to amend it during its Committee stage.
Will the Lords put up a fight?
Peers have already begun trying to water down the legislation. Many have made clear their disdain for the Rwanda plan, with arch-critic Lord Carlile and others already admitting he and many colleagues will try to sink it. Mr Sunak also lacks a majority in the Lords, and even if he did, peers - usually unbothered about climbing the political ladder - are far less likely to toe the party line.
So is it game over?
No. The will of the elected Commons trumps that of the unelected Lords. This means that while peers can totally gut the Rwanda Bill and send it back to MPs in a weakened form, the government can overrule these changes and throw it back to the Lords as they first voted for it. This back and forth - known as ping pong - can only happen so much before the peers cave and MPs get their way.
So what’s the problem?
By tabling relentless changes to the Bill, the Lords can grind up the whole process and ultimately push back Mr Sunak's hope of getting the first flights off by the spring.
What has the PM said?
Mr Sunak last week fired a warning shot at the unelected peers not to stand in the way of MPs to thwart the vital Rwanda plan.