Afghan boy smuggled in lorry texts for help
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 9 April 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Afghan boy smuggled in lorry texts for help, 9 April 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5768ffff1c.html [accessed 9 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
April 09, 2016
British police has rescued an Afghan boy and 14 adults who were in a sealed lorry, after the young boy texted he was suffocating.
Ahmed, who is aged six or seven, used on April 7 a mobile phone given by a British aid worker in a French migrant camp to warn her that they were running out of "oksijan" – meaning oxygen.
The aid worker was attending a conference in New York at the time and contacted a colleague in Britain who alerted police.
Officers traced the phone and stopped the lorry, taking all those inside into the care of immigration authorities.
Nobody was taken to hospital.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assisting illegal immigration.
The charity Help Refugees says it gives phones to children to help keep them safe.
Based on reporting by AFP and the BBC
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
