Two stowaway migrants who were found hiding in the luggage hold of a school coach were treated with ‘compassion’ by staff and parents and presented ‘no threat’, the school said today – despite claims they left bags covered in urine.
The suspected illegal immigrants were found as children from Hounsdown School in Totton, Hampshire were returning from a trip to France.
The school pupils, their teachers, and their parents who were waiting to collect them were left stunned when they arrived home from the three-day trip and found the stowaways.
Two men were found hiding among the luggage when the hold was opened after the journey back to the UK.
In a statement the school said: ‘Following the Hampshire Police statement released over the weekend the school can confirm that two possible illegal immigrants were discovered hiding in the baggage compartment of a coach bringing a school trip back from France.
A school bus returned to Hounsdown School in Totton, Hampshire on Saturday but found two unexpected passengers hiding with the luggage below
Pictured is Hounsdown School, where the pupils returned after their trip to France
‘Police attended promptly although there was no sense of threat to the school community in attendance.
‘The two people found were treated with compassion by staff and parents throughout.
‘Investigations into the matter rest with the Home Office, working with other agencies as required, and therefore we have no further comment to make.’
The Home Office has said it will not be sharing further information on the incident at this time.
A spokesperson added: ‘The Government works closely with law enforcement agencies to tackle illegal migration in all its forms.
‘Our Illegal Migration Act will mean that people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.’
One mother waiting to collect her child said the incident 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 children 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.
The teachers and pupils had travelled home on the coach via the Eurotunnel at Calais, returning to Totton, near Southampton, on Saturday evening.
‘It was horrendous,’ one mother said.
Describing the moment the men were found, she 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.’
It comes after 120 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to 1,506. Pictures taken at Dover docks on Saturday
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.’
Yesterday a teenage girl described her shock at discovering the migrants in the hold of the coach.
Scarlett Qiunton told ITV Meridian: ‘We got off the bus and the compartment was opened and everyone was just trying to get their suitcases and then I see a man sat in the bottom.
‘He was really calm, he was just sat staring at us and he seemed pretty comfy, and me and my friend were like, ‘oh my God, there’s someone in there’.
‘The teacher was trying to keep it all calm and just trying to get everyone back home and obviously do her teacher stuff, but then I heard someone else in my ear say, ‘oh there’s two more in there’.
‘I sort of saw their legs, and then I ran over to my mum.
‘It was all just a bit of a shock really.’
Year 9 student Scarlett retrieved her suitcase before then getting in the car with her mother to head home.
She said despite the shock, she sympathises with the people found inside the coach.
‘I can’t really blame them,’ Scarlett added.
‘They’re probably just trying to get a better life.
‘I think it is important to be respectful because obviously we don’t really know their background and they could be coming from a war-torn country or something.’
A mother, who had been at the school to collect her daughter, told the BBC: ‘I saw one male with his hood up but I believe there were two males.’
The woman, identified only as Tabi added: ‘They looked as though they were [aged] between 20 and 30.’
‘My daughter came running over and she said ‘Oh my God, there’s people sat in where the suitcases are’.
‘Obviously it’s quite concerning because there were 36 children on the coach and no-one was aware that they were on there.
‘I understand these immigrants are wanting a better life but it’s not very good targeting a coach full of children.’
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.’
Several parents who saw the incident have told of their shock.
‘They looked completely fine and comfy,’ one said on social media.
‘Not being funny but 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.’
The Border Force vessel Typhoon carrying migrants arrives at Dover docks on Saturday. One picture showed a migrant wrapped in a foil blanket being pushed in a wheelchair
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.
‘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.’