May: Europe must do more to root out bogus asylum seekers
THERESA May will today warn EU leaders they risk destroying public trust unless they do more to root out economic migrants posing as refugees.
She will say that while genuine refugees must be helped, Europe should remember how communities in Britain and elsewhere are feeling the ‘pressure’ of mass migration.
A No.10 source said Mrs May would underline the ‘huge challenge that Europe faces in dealing with global mass migration flows and the need to find a practical, sustainable way’ to control it. The official said that, while the EU needs to recognise humanitarian need, Europe’s leaders also need to be ‘aware of the way some of our communities experience the pressures of migration’.
The source said: ‘A failure to respond risks undermining our values and damaging consent of our people to provide support and sanctuary to those who need it the most’.
The PM’s remarks come at a time when German chancellor Angela Merkel is facing controversy for throwing her country’s doors open to more than a million migrants.
As part of efforts to identify bogus refugees, Britain is sending 40 immigration officials to Greece over the winter months.
The staff – case workers who are experts in spotting false papers – will help the Greeks to identify economic migrants posing as refugees. Arrivals would then be put into a fasttrack asylum system with the aim of sending them home in only eight weeks.
Government insiders said the aim was to have a ‘deterrent effect’ on those intending to make the journey to Europe from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea that bogus claimants will not get through.
Up to 4,000 people registered in Greece’s migrant camps are unaccounted for and could have slipped into the rest of Europe.
Speaking at a one-day summit in Brussels, Mrs May will also urge the EU to work more closely with the authorities in Egypt – from where many of the children heading for Europe originate.
EU countries will also be urged to share intelligence on routes used by people smug- glers in countries such as Libya so they can be blocked. The PM will also meet with European Parliament head Martin Schultz and the leaders of Latvia and Lithuania today for preliminary talks on Brexit.
But one senior diplomatic source said the UK’s departure from the EU, coupled with the crisis in Syria, could lead to an ‘explosive’ atmosphere. The insider said: ‘It feels like we are treading on a minefield. There are so many issues that still can go wrong.’
In the European Parliament, ex-Ukip leader Nigel Farage accused Mrs May of ‘dithering’.
He said: It’s been six months since we voted for our liberation. Had she triggered Article 50 immediately, there would be no court cases. Once we trigger Article 50 it may become so unworkable that we simply have to say we’re going, goodbye.’
Meanwhile, splits are emerging in the EU’s ranks over who will be involved in the negotiations. Guy Verhofstadt, who has been appointed to lead the talks on behalf of the European Parliament, is fuming that he will not be given an official seat at a dinner tonight. Yesterday, he threatened to start his own separate negotiations with Britain.