14:05, 12 December 2007

Illegal migrants from Russia detained in France, some of them are Chechnya residents

15 illegal migrants from Russia were detained in the north of France; the majority of them have told that they are residents of Chechnya.

The France-Info radio station has reported today with reference to a police source that the illegal migrants were detained by French law enforcement bodies on A1 highway (Department Somme).

The first group of five Russians who were walking along the roadside of the highway was detained on December 10 at about midnight. Ten more Russian citizens were stopped at about 5 a.m. on Tuesday, December 11, on the roadside of the same А1 highway.

According to the gendarmerie, the illegal migrants were detected by a special video surveillance system installed on the highway. The source has noted that "the A1 highway is a popular transit route for the people who illegally arrive to the country," however, "detention of 15 persons at once there is a rather rare occasion."