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| UK 'locking out' Calais migrants | UK 'locking out' Calais migrants |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Refugees attempting to enter Britain via Calais are "locked out, not queuing to get in", Immigration Minister Phil Woolas has insisted. | Refugees attempting to enter Britain via Calais are "locked out, not queuing to get in", Immigration Minister Phil Woolas has insisted. |
| He was replying to a GMTV report which claimed hundreds of migrants, some as young as eight, were trying to board UK-bound lorries in the French town. | He was replying to a GMTV report which claimed hundreds of migrants, some as young as eight, were trying to board UK-bound lorries in the French town. |
| Mr Woolas said the UK's borders were tougher than the US-Mexico frontier. | Mr Woolas said the UK's borders were tougher than the US-Mexico frontier. |
| But shadow immigration minister Damian Green told the programme: "Our borders are not secure enough." | But shadow immigration minister Damian Green told the programme: "Our borders are not secure enough." |
| Sleeping rough | Sleeping rough |
| In 2002, Sangatte refugee camp near Calais was closed in an attempt to stem the flow of illegal immigrants crossing the Channel into the UK. | In 2002, Sangatte refugee camp near Calais was closed in an attempt to stem the flow of illegal immigrants crossing the Channel into the UK. |
| Official figures show the number of illegal immigrants detected entering Kent from Calais fell 88% from more than 10,000 in 2002 to 1,500 in 2006. | Official figures show the number of illegal immigrants detected entering Kent from Calais fell 88% from more than 10,000 in 2002 to 1,500 in 2006. |
| But charities and officials in Calais want to create a welfare centre for some 500 asylum seekers who are sleeping rough in the port town. | But charities and officials in Calais want to create a welfare centre for some 500 asylum seekers who are sleeping rough in the port town. |
| For the last ten years our borders have been much too porous Damian GreenShadow mmigration minister | For the last ten years our borders have been much too porous Damian GreenShadow mmigration minister |
| France's Immigration Minister Eric Besson has previously said that another Sangatte was "out of the question". | |
| Mr Woolas told GMTV that the government was compiling a database of travel records to track millions of people and halt illegal migrants. | Mr Woolas told GMTV that the government was compiling a database of travel records to track millions of people and halt illegal migrants. |
| He admitted that "some do inevitably get through" but insisted that measures aimed at tackling illegal immigration were working. | He admitted that "some do inevitably get through" but insisted that measures aimed at tackling illegal immigration were working. |
| Lorries searched | |
| "We are, on the whole, stopping people coming through," Mr Woolas said. | "We are, on the whole, stopping people coming through," Mr Woolas said. |
| "We're counting people in and counting people out." | "We're counting people in and counting people out." |
| A Home Office spokesman said the government had stopped 88,500 attempts to illegally cross the channel in the past five years - 61,000 of which were at Calais - and searched three million lorries. UK immigration officials were now based in ports at France and Belgium, he added. | |
| But Mr Green said not enough was being done to stop the UK from being perceived as a "soft touch". | But Mr Green said not enough was being done to stop the UK from being perceived as a "soft touch". |
| He accused French authorities of not doing enough to discourage migrants from gathering in Calais, and repeated Conservative calls for a specialist border police force. | He accused French authorities of not doing enough to discourage migrants from gathering in Calais, and repeated Conservative calls for a specialist border police force. |
| "If people thought our borders were properly secure then they wouldn't be gathering in woods and living in squalor on the other side of the channel," Mr Green added. | "If people thought our borders were properly secure then they wouldn't be gathering in woods and living in squalor on the other side of the channel," Mr Green added. |
| "We're an island and it ought to be relatively easy to defend our borders. Unfortunately, for the last ten years our borders have been much too porous." | "We're an island and it ought to be relatively easy to defend our borders. Unfortunately, for the last ten years our borders have been much too porous." |
| Mr Woolas is due to be grilled by MPs on the Commons Home Affairs committee about the new points-based immigration system on Tuesday. | Mr Woolas is due to be grilled by MPs on the Commons Home Affairs committee about the new points-based immigration system on Tuesday. |