Paris suburb now home to 300,000 illegal migrants
UP to one fifth of the population of an area of suburban Paris are illegal immigrants, according to an official report.
The number of illegals in Seine-SaintDenis may have risen to more than 300,000, putting a strain on services, the French parliamentary report says.
Politicians have warned that surging numbers will help turn the suburb into ‘a huge ethnic ghetto’ within two decades.
While a large number want eventually to claim asylum in France, many are stopping over before trying to get to Britain.
An estimated 550 migrants arrive in the French capital each week, mostly having crossed the border from Italy where there are no systematic border checks because of the border-free Schengen travel area.
Many go straight for Seine-Saint-Denis, north-east of the city, because of its closeness to transport links.
It is only a few hours’ drive or train ride from the Normandy coast, which as the Daily Mail revealed last month, is the new route being used by migrants to try to get to Britain. They have been trying to jump onto lorries in Ouistreham, close to one of the the D-Day landing areas.
Seine-Saint-Denis is also a few hours from the channel ports of Calais and Dunkirk, the traditional spots favoured by migrants trying to get to the UK.
Paris senator Philippe Dallier said ‘the challenge’ is to prevent Seine-Saint-Denis becoming a ‘huge ethnic ghetto of two million inhabitants’ within 20 years.
JAN MOIR IS AWAY