German Federal Police discovered eight Syrians, including a four-year-old child, in a van on Monday. The van was stopped near the A93 motorway, not far from the Austrian border.
Police found eight Syrians in the back of a van on Monday, including four children and an unaccompanied 17-year-old minor. The information was released by police on Tuesday along with a photo of the Syrians sitting in the rental van, which had a German numberplate.
Police suspect that the group of Syrians was being smuggled. The four children were traveling with their parents. In addition to the unaccompanied teenager, the group also included a single adult man.
According to reports, the migrants had been in the back of the vehicle without seatbelts or any kind of safety restraints since they left Croatia. The driver was a 20-year-old Syrian man with a residence permit in Germany, where he is registered as living in the state of Lower Saxony. He was arrested for questioning.
According to police, the family of six had paid €5,000 for their journey, and the other two €1,400 each, bringing the total cost of the journey to €7,800.
Taken to a reception center
The Syrians were taken to a migrant reception center. Police said the 17-year-old was taken into the care of Germany’s youth services.
According to police, the father of the four children was 50 years old and the woman was 45. Two of the children were aged four and eight, while the other two were both aged 11. The single man, who was not a member of the same family, was reportedly 28 years old.
Authorities say that in the first two months of 2023 there was a significant rise in the number of migrants who entered Germany without documents. In January, there were 7,587 irregular entries, while in February the number was 5,367, an increase of nearly 40% compared with the same month last year.