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France to phase out Sangatte camp

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON SEPT 27. A major irritant in Anglo-French relations has been laid to rest with France agreeing to phase out the contentious Sangatte refugees camp whose proximity to the Channel Tunnel has made it a staging post for asylum seekers to try and enter Britain illegally.

Under an agreement, reached between the two countries on Thursday after months of wrangling, the camp will not accept any new inmates from November 15 and the place will be completely shut down next April.

Britain has agreed to take half of those who are found to be genuine refugees after a U.N. screening of the camp's over 1,000 existing inmates, mostly Iraqi Kurds, Turks and Afghans. Those who have their claims rejected would be deported and given money to return to their homes and rebuild their lives. But many said the `compensation' — £1,300 — was not enough as they had spent much more to get to Europe in search of better prospects. ``I borrowed $5,000 to get to England. I am going to go every day to try and get on a ship to England,'' one asylum seeker said. The British Home Secretary, David Blunkett, who is determined to rid Britain of its image as a "soft touch'' for asylum-seekers, hailed the agreement as a `significant' step. "This is excellent progress and demonstrates the commitment of both Governments to tackling the problem of illegal immigration,'' he said after a meeting with his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The camp, set up by Red Cross three years ago, has been a constant source of irritation for the British Government as refugees try to clamber on to U.K.-bound trains and lorries in a desperate bid to get into Britain, even risking their lives. Its repeated pleas to France to close down the camp was met with a frosty response until now with the French Government blaming Britain's liberal asylum regime for attracting asylum seekers.Britain's asylum rules are comparatively softer than those of other European countries, but stung by criticism Mr. Blunkett has vowed to get tough on immigrants.

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