68 immigrants found in shipping containers in England

ESSEX , England, June 5 (UPI) -- British border agents found 68 migrants locked in shipping containers aboard four trucks at the port of Essex.

A Home Office spokesmen said they were found late Thursday at Harwich International Port, northeast of London, during an inspection. The trucks and containers arrived from the Netherlands. Within the containers were 35 Afghans, 22 Chinese, 10 Vietnamese and one Russian. Two were pregnant, a member of East of England Ambulance Service said, and seven were later hospitalized with chest and abdominal pain.

The four drivers, all Polish nationals, were "arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration," the Home Office spokesman said.

The migrants were found near the site of a 2014 incident in which 35 people were found in a shipping container, including an afghan man who was discovered dead.

Europe is dealing with an increase in the number of illegal immigrants, seeking asylum from poverty and violence, and largely from the Middle East and North Africa. The crisis has called immigration policies into question, with the European Union attempting to convince members a quota system would be the most preferable of choices. Britain and France are among those opposed to a quota; tight national budgets have led to support of right-wing political groups calling for an end to illegal immigration.