5 years in prison and 640,000 euros fine for human smuggler
In May 2021, 81 people, mainly of Vietnamese origin, will be arrested in the dunes of Oostduinkerke. They would make the crossing to the United Kingdom in a boat. One Iraqi Kurd is arrested on the spot and sentenced in Ghent to 7 years in effective prison. Three other suspects have now been convicted. They claimed that they wanted to make the crossing themselves, and that they were victims of people smugglers. The judge did not believe their story.