Rosyth should not be seen as a “soft target” for illegal migrants, according to Dunfermline and West Fife MP Douglas Chapman.
Fears over security arrangements at the port of Rosyth were raised after four males were found hiding in the back of a lorry last week, having stowed away on a container ship bound for Fife from Belgium.
The three men and one teenager are believed to have travelled from India and had boarded the cargo vessel at Zeebrugge.
However, the area’s MP has praised the staff at Rosyth Docks for carrying out the appropriate checks and ensuring that the men were swiftly detained.
“Security at Rosyth docks is tight and that’s why these men were detected,” he stressed.
“As with any port in the UK, attempts will be made to enter the country illegally.
“The number of these reported to have taken place in Rosyth over the years is relatively small.
“I’m aware security has been heightened following this incident and investigations are under way.”
The group of Indian migrants were found in the lorry during routine checks at Rosyth in the early hours of Friday June 3 and were taken to Dunfermline Police Station where they were initially held.
Police Scotland officers detained the individuals on behalf of the UK Border Agency at around 1am, and the quartet were subsequently taken to the Dungavel Detention Centre in Lanarkshire.
One of them is understood to have been under 18, meaning social services were also involved.
A spokesperson for the UK Border Agency said all four remain in detention while “removal is pursued”.
An investigation is now underway as to how the four managed to board the Finlandia Seaways cargo ship, which sails under the flag of Lithuania, and almost manage to breach the UK’s borders.
With French authorities cracking down on refugee camps at Calais, it is thought many migrants determined to come to the UK have now turned their attention to the likes of Belgium as an alternative route in.
Such incidents have been rare at Rosyth over the years, although eight eastern Europeans were detained at the Fife ferry terminal back in 2004 after trying to enter the country illegally.
