Migrants sneaking into UK avoid jail
Migrants cannot be jailed for trying to sneak into Britain, the European Court of Justice has ruled, in a move Leave campaigners said undermined border security. The court ruled France had no right to detain a Ghanaian woman who tried to travel through the Channel Tunnel with someone else’s passport.
MIGRANTS cannot be jailed for trying to sneak into Britain, Europe’s highest court ruled yesterday, in a move Leave campaigners said undermined border security.
France had no right to detain a Ghanaian woman who tried to enter Britain by travelling on the Channel Tunnel with someone else’s passport, the European Court of Justice ruled.
Instead, police forces on the Conti- nent must obey Schengen zone rules that say illegal migrants must be invited to go home voluntarily first, within a window of up to a month.
Leave campaigners said the ruling increased the risk of migrants being able to make multiple attempts to reach Britain. It also raises the prospect of those currently detained on the Continent being released.
The ruling comes as Theresa May, the Home Secretary, faces growing pressure to tackle the threat of clandestine entries by migrants on ferries and fast boats from ports in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The judges in Luxembourg ruled in the case of Selina Affum, who boarded a bus in Ghent, Belgium, to London. She was stopped in Calais, before she could enter the Tunnel, carrying someone else’s passport. French authorities stopped her and put her in custody while they arranged deportation to Belgium. Under French law, people suspected of entering French territory illegally can be held in police custody, and if convicted jailed for one year.
Ms Affum challenged her detention. The court found it incompatible with the EU Returns Directive, which says that anybody who is found to have illegally entered a territory must be granted a “period for voluntary return” unless there is a risk to public safety or of them absconding. Foreigners cannot “be imprisoned merely on account of illegal entry, resulting in an illegal stay”, the court said.
The rules also apply to people who are “intercepted when leaving the Schengen area”, such as those attempting to reach Britain. The ruling does not directly af- fect British police, as the UK is not part of the Schengen zone.
Dominic Raab, the justice minister, said: “These rulings threaten the integrity of our borders, and create serious risks for our security.” He added that it “weakens the ability of EU governments to put in place proper checks”.
The Leave campaign will today accuse David Cameron of “setting out to deceive UK citizens” by claiming the UK has control over immigration from outside the EU. It says statistics show that last year more than 30,000 “EEA family permits” were issued, an increase of 50 per cent since 2010. The permits allow EU citizens to bring in their non-EU partners and family members. Iain Duncan Smith, the former work and pensions secretary, described the rule as “an enormous loophole” that is being exploited.