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UK 'locking out' Calais migrants Immigrant amnesty 'road to hell'
(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. An amnesty for illegal immigrants would be a "well intended road to hell", says immigration minister Phil Woolas.
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 asked about London mayor Boris Johnson's suggestion that long term illegal immigrants should be able to "earn" the right to stay.
Mr Woolas said the UK's borders were tougher than the US-Mexico frontier. But Mr Woolas told MPs on the home affairs committee it would increase the "pull factor" for illegal immigrants.
But shadow immigration minister Damian Green told the programme: "Our borders are not secure enough." He also said he did not recognise figures suggesting there were 750,000 illegal immigrants in the UK.
Sleeping rough Mr Woolas was being questioned about the new points-based immigration system for people from outside the EU.
'Morally right'
He said the official position was that the government did not know how many illegal immigrants were in the country and added: "We haven't done a detailed study on this for three years now, four years - so I don't know."
Mr Johnson has said that deporting thousands of illegal immigrants was "just not going to happen" and that an amnesty for those meeting certain criteria would be "morally right" as they could contribute in taxes towards the rest of society.
Why don't they claim benefits in France? name here
But Mr Woolas said: "What I do believe is that if one were to do what the mayor suggested it would make the problem worse not better because the pull factor would increase and the people traffickers would make more money."
"I think an amnesty is a well-intended road to hell," he said.
He was appearing before the committee after a GMTV interview in which he said refugees attempting to enter Britain via Calais were "locked out, not queuing to get in".
Not asylum seekers
Conservative committee member David Davies asked why, if security was so good, people were still "marching through dozens, sometimes, of European Union countries" to get to Calais with the aim of getting to the UK.
"It is because they know the benefit system is far more generous in the United Kingdom," he said.
"Why don't they claim benefits in France?" he said.
Mr Woolas said he did not accept that but said most people in Calais were not seeking asylum, if they were they would seek it in France.
For the last ten years our borders have been much too porous Damian GreenShadow mmigration minister
He said similar questions were asked in France about why people from Algeria headed to Marseilles rather than Spain - or in southern Spain about people from western Africa who did not head to Italy.
But he said he accepted that "the message the people traffickers are sending out to people in the country of origin is exactly that there is a promised land in the United Kingdom and our efforts are there to make sure that while we protect genuine refugees ... we need to put the record straight as to what our immigration management policy is, and that it is improving."
Mr Woolas told the committee he had had a meeting with his French counterpart, and said people found in camps at Calais were being returned to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sangatte
"Our intention is to announce a package of measures to move the situation on," he said.
"Essentially we are in a battle with people traffickers - it's the people traffickers who are raising the expectations of these people and it's up to us with our French colleagues to put the facts right to them."
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
France's Immigration Minister Eric Besson has previously said that another Sangatte was "out of the question".France's Immigration Minister Eric Besson has previously said that another Sangatte was "out of the question".
'Soft touch'
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'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.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 for the Conservatives, Damian 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.