Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants a year could land in Dover if the border controls at Calais are scrapped, the head of the UK Border Force union has warned.
British authorities would be powerless to return the hundreds of stowaways caught every day trying to sneak aboard ferries to Britain main’s ports from Calais if French politicians follow through with their threat to end the deal, Lucy Moreton added.
Migrant camps could also spring up along England’s south coast as migrants flock into the country, following the suspension of UK border controls in northern France, a Kent politician fears.
Calls from French presidential hopeful Alain Juppe for the border to be moved from northern France back to Britain have been met with alarm by border officials, MPs and local people in Dover
An estimated 7,000 people from Africa, Asia and the Middle East are currently living in a make-shift encampment on the edge of Calais hoping to start a new life in Britain
Last year UK Border guards foiled 30,629 attempts to cross to Britain illegally between April and July – an annual rate of 92,000, according to the latest Home Office figures
French presidential front runner Alain Juppe said it was ‘logical’ for checks to take place on UK soil now Britain is leaving the EU
The front-runner to become the next French president has called for Britain’s border checks in Calais to be scrapped.
Alain Juppe said it was ‘logical’ for checks to take place on UK soil now the country is leaving the EU.
The arrangements are underpinned by the Le Touquet agreement sealed between Britain and France in 2002 which dramatically cut illegal immigration across the channel.
Mrs Moreton, general secretary of the ISU union which represents officers from the UK Border Force, Immigration Service and HM Revenue and Customs, claims the end of the Le Touquet deal would mean the return to the illegal immigration chaos of the 2000s when the numbers seeking asylum reached a staggering 84,132 a year.
Last year UK Border guards foiled 30,629 attempts to cross to Britain illegally between April and July – an annual rate of 92,000, according to the latest Home Office figures.
Speaking to the MailOnline, Mrs Moreton said: ‘The scrapping of the Le Touquet agreement could mean the return of the large scale and chaotic illegal immigration to the UK from France that we saw in the 2000s.
‘Freight and passenger traffic would cross the channel before seeing UK Border authorities.
Pictures from June 2001 (above and below) show migrants gathering at the Sangatte Red Cross camp before trying to cross the channel to the UK - there are fears that the number of illegal immigrants entering the UK could soar if the border comes back to Britain
Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the ISU union, told the MailOnline today: ‘If the UK border were shifted back to the UK from northern France we would return to the situation pre-2002. Freight and passenger traffic would cross the channel before seeing UK Border authorities.'
Migrants try to secure safe passage to the UK in September 2001 before joint border controls were set up in Calais in 2002
French police search illegal immigrants found in a lorry at Calais bound for Dover in December 2000 before border controls were brought in under Le Touquet agreement. There are fears the UK authorities would buckle if border controls move back to Britain
‘This means that the hundreds of irregular migrants detected every day whilst still in France but attempting to reach the UK who are currently simply returned to the French authorities would have arrived in the UK and would have to be processed here.
‘Although applications for entry may be ultimately unsuccessful this can be a lengthy process putting strains on the detention estate; as well as pressures on the benefits and other support systems.’
Walmart employee policies and procedures. Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins warned the threat must be taken seriously but said Britain cannot accept ‘the illegal immigration of the past’.
He told MailOnline: ‘Alain Juppe is the front-runner in the French presidential elections so we have to take his threat to scrap the Le Touquet agreement seriously.
‘But we cannot allow the situation in Calais to occur in the UK.
‘People in Kent would not tolerate the arrival of large numbers of illegal immigrants. It would not be tolerated to see the situation of Calais-style migrant camps in the UK.’
Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins warned the threat of the border returning to the UK must be taken seriously but said Britain cannot accept ‘the illegal immigration of the past’
Razor-wire fencing has been extended around the motorway leading to the Calais port as part of increased security measures to prevent migrants clambering on board trucks heading to the UK
Andrew Richardson, UKIP group leader of Dover District Council, said: ‘The scrapping of the Le Touquet agreement could well be carnage for Dover and Folkestone.'
Under the terms of Le Touquet agreement, no change to the location of the Anglo-French border could legally be made for two years
Last year UK Border guards foiled 30,629 attempts to cross to Britain illegally between April and July – an annual rate of 92,000, according to the latest Home Office figures
P&O Ferries say they are confident new measures will be put in place to prevent illegal immigrants over-running their services from Calais to Dover if UK border controls in France are scrapped
Hundreds of migrants walked between the sprawling jungle camp and the ferry port in Calais today as they planned their illegal route to the UK.
An estimated 7,000 from Africa, Asia and the Middle East are currently living in the make-shift encampment on the edge of town hoping to start a new life in Britain.
Razor-wire fencing has been extended around the motorway leading to the port as part of increased security measures to prevent migrants clambering on board trucks heading to the UK.
A UKIP councillor claimed the scrapping of border controls in Calais would have a catastrophic effect on south of England.
Andrew Richardson, UKIP group leader of Dover District Council, said: ‘The scrapping of the Le Touquet agreement could well be carnage for Dover and Folkestone.
‘The French cannot simply open the flood gates and let the thousands of migrants waiting in Calais to walk through the Channel Tunnel.
‘This is a potentially catastrophic result of the Brexit vote.
‘The disruption [to cross-channel traffic] last summer by the migrants was disastrous for Dover and Folkestone.’
He added: ‘If a jungle-style migrant camp were to open in Dover UKIP would have to share some of the responsibility for it happening because we have called for Britain to leave the EU.
‘But the French have been calling for the scrapping of the Le Touquet agreement long before the Brexit vote. So this problem could have arisen whether we were in the EU or not.
‘The existence of a migrant camp on either side of the channel – in Calais or Dover – shows that we have failed to deal with this problem effectively.’
The idea that border controls return to the UK has been greeted by concern in Dover. Debbie Brooks (left) and Susan Fellows (right) said the influx of people would stretch border officials to breaking point
Glenn Morley (pictured with his family) said leaving the EU was a bad idea and had triggered the potential problem of the border being moved: ‘There would be thousands of people arriving on our shores and we won’t know who they are.'
Paul Cooper, 52, added: ‘It’s sad for the people that are in France and want to come to Britain but we can’t afford to look after everyone.’
Yesterday people in Dover told of their fears at the threat of large scale illegal immigration and migrant camps near their homes.
Susan Fellows, 72, said: ‘We don’t want all those people coming over from Calais. We can barely look after our own people, let alone look after everyone else.’
Debbie Brooks, legal secretary, 57, said: ‘Bringing the border controls back to Dover would not be good.
‘I think the Border Agency and HM Customs are stretched enough as it is, I don’t know how they would be able to cope.
Shri ram bhajan lyrics in hindi. ‘Having a migrant camp in Dover would certainly put people off from coming to the area.
Bakugan battle brawlers season 2 episode 21. ‘And if people are able to get across easily then it will encourage others to try to come illegally too.’
Paul Cooper, 52, unemployed said: ‘The UK border moving from Calais to Dover would be a bad thing.
‘It’s sad for the people that are in France and want to come to Britain but we can’t afford to look after everyone.’
Razor-wire fencing has been extended around the motorway leading to the Calais port as part of increased security measures to prevent migrants clambering on board trucks heading to the UK
Last week French President Francois Hollande said: 'Calling into question the Touquet deal on the pretext that Britain has voted for Brexit and will have to start negotiations to leave the Union doesn’t make sense.'
Glenn Morley, 45, a storeman, said: ‘I do not think coming out of the EU would be a good idea and this is one of the problems.
‘There would be thousands of people arriving on our shores and we won’t know who they are.
‘They could well be refugees or migrants looking for a new life but they could also be terrorists and we won’t be able to keep them out.’
Today the Home Office tried to play down the threat of ending UK border controls at Calais but failed to offer a solution if the agreement was scrapped.
A Home Office spokeswoman said: ‘Last week French President Francois Hollande said: “Calling into question the Touquet deal on the pretext that Britain has voted for Brexit and will have to start negotiations to leave the Union doesn’t make sense.”
She added: ‘French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said: “The Touquet agreement, which allows the intervention of British forces in Calais, just as it allows French forces in Dover, is not being called into question following the exit of the UK from the European Union.”’
Under the terms of Le Touquet agreement, no change to the location of the Anglo-French border could legally be made for two years
P&O Ferries say they are confident new measures will be put in place to prevent illegal immigrants over-running their services from Calais to Dover if UK border controls in France are scrapped
Last year UK Border guards foiled 30,629 attempts to cross to Britain illegally between April and July – an annual rate of 92,000, according to the latest Home Office figures
P&O Ferries say they are confident new measures will be put in place to prevent illegal immigrants over-running their services from Calais to Dover if UK border controls in France are scrapped.
Spokesman Dan Bridgett told MailOnline: ‘Under the terms of Le Touquet agreement, no change to the location of the Anglo-French border could legally be made for two years.
‘Given that the French presidential election is not until May 2017, then in practical terms the earliest that current arrangements could be changed is May 2019 – three years away.
‘By that time, we very much hope that alternative arrangements would have been made which minimise disruption at the ports of Calais and Dover and ensure the smooth running of cross-channel ferry services, which is vital in the interests of both countries.’
A damning report by the chief inspector of borders and immigration has raised serious questions over the UK Border Agency’s competence.
The findings of an inspection into the UK Border Agency’s handling of legacy asylum cases has uncovered a catalogue of failures in the beleaguered government department.
Thousands of immigrants have been allowed to stay in the UK without proper checks because of a huge backlog of cases, while almost 100,000 pieces of post were left unopened, the new report reveals.
Security checks were not carried out properly, with applications placed into an archive of unresolved cases after “minimal work”, while the agency assured MPs that “exhaustive” checks had been carried out.
The report reveals how over 147,000 cases remain unresolved after the agency claimed in the summer of 2011 that they had been cleared. Asylum seekers who had no grounds to stay in the UK were granted the right to remain because they were left waiting so long for their cases to be resolved.
Those who waited longest got the worst deal, conclusion for them has been a grant of more temporary leave. Judith Dennis, Refugee Council
Labour shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant has described the chief inspector’s report as “utterly damning” and called border staff’s efforts “slapdash”.
Uk Border Agency Website
The Commons home affairs select committee has previously warned that the border agency was unable to fulfil basic functions and was tarnishing the reputation of the government.
The continued failures have angered groups on both sides of the immigration debate. The agency has been criticised for failing to control the nation’s borders as well as leaving asylum seekers in uncertainty.
Judith Dennis, policy officer at the Refugee Council, has accused the border agency of causing “ongoing suffering” for people forced to wait years for a decision and highlighted the human cost of an inefficient system.
“They must urgently put resources in to ensuring people are finally given a right and fair decision,” Judith Dennis explained.
“They are unable to get on with their lives, many living without support or access to basic services. We know from our own work that in many cases, people’s mental and physical health deteriorates as a result.”
“Those who waited longest got the worst deal – conclusion for them has been a grant of more temporary leave. It is only fair that those who are allowed to stay should be given permanent residence; after years of living in limbo.”
‘No excuse’
A sample of 135 UKBA files showed each case had lain dormant for an average of 87 months, the shortest period was six months, but the longest was over 17 years. Just 34 applicants had been recorded as absconders on the police national computer.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch, a group campaigning for tougher border controls, has called the report “another chapter in a sorry tale” blaming a “shambolic legacy of outstanding asylum applications”.
“They are seriously under resourced to cope with the expanding load of asylum and immigration cases. That is no excuse for the Home Office being less than frank about the situation but the fundamental problem is that they are reduced to sticking fingers in the dyke.”
Among the numerous failings, Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration John Vine found that an examination of controlled archive cases showed security checks had not been undertaken routinely or consistently since April 2011.
“No thorough comparison of data from controlled archive cases was undertaken with other government departments or financial institutions in order to trace applicants until April 2012,” Mr Vine explained.
“This was unacceptable and at odds with the assurances given to the Home Affairs Select Committee that 124,000 cases were only archived after ‘exhaustive checks’ to trace the applicant had been made.”
Limited resources were highlighted as a significant impediment to case clearance, with timescales given to applicants frequently missed, even where legal action was threatened.
A spokesman for the border agency claimed they were implementing “every recommendation from the report” and conceded that UKBA is a “troubled organisation with a poor record of delivery”.
“The Border Force is now an independent organisation and its performance is improving. And UKBA has a transformation plan that will put the agency on a surer footing.”
Topics
Politics,UK, ImmigrationThe Border and Immigration Agency (BIA) was an executive agency of the British Home Office, created on 1 April 2007 and replaced on 1 April 2008. The agency replaced the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, assuming its responsibilities for managing immigration control in the United Kingdom. The BIA also considered applications for visas to enter the UK, permission to remain, citizenship, asylum and in-country enforcement of immigration law. The headquarters were located in Croydon.
The BIA was responsible for delivering the e-border programme, a modernised border control system proposed by the UK Government, and a new programme of biometrically controlled identity documents for foreign nationals.
On 1 April 2008, the BIA merged with UKVisas and the port of entry functions of HM Revenue and Customs to form the UK Border Agency. Then in 2012 and 2013 the UK Border Agency was split into three new organisations: Border Force, responsible for front-line border control, UK Visas and Immigration, responsible for the UK visa system, and Immigration Enforcement, responsible for enforcing immigration law.
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External links[edit]
- 'Government plans travel database', BBC News, 8 February 2009