U.K.-French row over refugees

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, SEPT. 2. A row has broken out between Britain and France over a refugee camp which has become a headache for British immigration authorities as they struggle to keep illegal immigrants at bay.

The Home Secretary, Mr. David Blunkett, is reported to have told his French counterpart, Mr. Daniel Vailant, to close down the Sangatte camp which because of its proximity to the Channel tunnel - barely a walking distance - has become a ``sneaking point'' for refugees desperately trying to enter Britain.

The Home Office said the British Government believed that the present location of the camp was ``not helping'' Britain's efforts to check the flow of refugees. It said Mr. Blunkett had discussed the issue with the French Interior Minister, but the statement made no reference to reports that he asked Mr Vailant in a telephone call to shift the camp and to deal more firmly with Britain-bound asylum-seekers found on the French side of the Channel.

In another development, Eurotunnel, the company which runs the tunnel, has gone to court in France seeking closure of the controversial camp. The company also wants France to impose tighter border security controls at the entrance to the tunnel. This follows a warning by Mr Blunkett that it might be asked to pay a fine of œ 2,000 for every illegal refugee who sneaks into Britain through the tunnel. The company believes it is unfair as the responsibility for guarding the entrance lies with the French Government.

Mr Blunkett's intervention over the Sangatte detention centre follows months of loud, unofficial, protests over what here is regarded as France's unhelpful attitude towards Britain's refugee problem. It is widely believed here that France is passively watching as hundreds of asylum seekers use its soil as a check-in point for entry into Britain and by locating a camp virtually next the entrance to the tunnel it is seen to have compounded the problem for the British Government already under domestic political pressure to get a grip over the asylum issue.

While right-wing groups have criticised it for being too ``soft'' on asylum-seekers, human rights activists have protested that hundreds of refugees have been hurled into in jails, often forced to live with convicted criminals. Almost every night groups of refugees from the Sangatte Red Cross camp attempt to get into Britain through the tunnel often risking their lives, the latest ``assault'' having taken place on Saturday night when about 100 asylum seekers were found inside the Eurotunnel compound.

Earlier in the week, 44 Afghan refugees were caught walking through the tunnel, and in another case, 80 were arrested when they trying to break into the compound. There are 700 refugees in the camp, mostly Afghans and Kurds claiming to be fleeing political persecution. Exhausted men and women, often with babies in their arms, waiting to find a way to get into Britain has become a common sight. Most have paid their lives' earnings to ``agents'' to get them as close to the British ports as possible and they say they are determined to ``make it.''

An Iranian refugee told a newspaper that he paid $ 1,200 to get to the U.K., but was dumped at Sangette. ``I, like everybody else here, will do whatever I can to cross the English channel. If that includes risking my life by jumping on to a Eurotunnel train then I will do that'', he told The Independent on Sunday. But for all the hype, few manage to cross into Britain. For most, it is an endless wait to nowhere.

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Section  : International
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