Dutch calm immigration jitters over freighter

The Dutch authorities say they have inspected a Panamanian-registered freighter reported to be carrying illegal immigrants -- but have found none.

The justice ministry said military police boarded the vessel the Elpa off the Dutch coast and searched it with the permission of the captain.

The ship began its journey in Morocco and was tracked by the navies of France and Belgium, as well as the Netherlands, after suspicions were raised that it might have one-thousand illegal immigrants on board. Belgian officials met through the night to decide how to deal with any attempt to land immigrants. But when contacted, the captain said the alert must be a joke: he was just going to Amsterdam to pick up a cargo of coal.

Sensitivities in western Europe over immigration are especially sharp after an incident a week ago, when a vessel carrying nine-hundred Iraqis was run aground off southern France.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service