France may end Calais camp deal
The Home Secretary will travel to Paris to meet her French counterpart amid growing fears that the French could axe British border controls in Calais and send the Jungle camp to Dover.
THE HOME Secretary will travel to Paris to meet her French counterpart amid growing fears that the French could axe British border controls in Calais and send the Jungle camp to Dover.
Amber Rudd is due to discuss security issues today with French Interior Minster Bernard Cazeneuve during the scheduled trip, which is her first official overseas engagement since taking up the post.
It comes after a growing number of prominent French politicians have warned that France might tear up the deal which allows British border checks to be carried out in Calais unless radical changes are made.
Xavier Bertrand, the president of the Hauts-de-France Nord Pas De Calais-Picardie region which includes Calais, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme yesterday that he wants a “new treatment” for asylum seekers trying to get to Britain from France.
He said: “If the British Government don’t want to open this discussion, we will tell you Touquet Agreement is over.”
Under the Treaty of Le Touquet, British immigration officials check passports in Calais and their French counterparts do the same in Dover.
But the sprawling Calais migrant camp, where thousands live in filthy conditions and each night try to smuggle themselves across the Channel on board lorries heading for Britain, has become a source of resentment among the French.
Mr Bertrand wants a new deal in which migrants hoping to claim asylum in the UK would be able to do so at a “hotspot” in France.
Those who failed would be deported directly to their country of origin.
This would be a radical departure from current rules known as the Dublin Regulation which states that refugees must register in the first European country they arrive in.
This country usually takes charge of their asylum claim.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French leader who is running for his party’s nomination for next year’s presidential race, has called for the opening of a centre in Britain to deal with the asylum seekers.
But Sir Peter Ricketts, the former British ambassador to Paris, said the plans to create hotspots risked attracting many more thousands of migrants to France and placing an extra burden on an already strained asylum system.
John Vine, the former independent inspector of borders and immigration, echoed these concerns, saying there is a danger it will “encourage, potentially, more people to travel through France if they feel it is easier to get to Britain”.
He added: “If this arrangement were to end, one of the biggest impacts on us would be potentially a rise in the number of people coming to Britain to claim asylum.”
A Home Office spokesman confirmed Ms Rudd and Mr Cazeneuve will discuss a broad range of issues related to security.
He added: “We remain committed to working together to protect our shared border in Calais and to maintain the juxtaposed controls.
“The French government has repeatedly made it clear that removing the juxtaposed controls would not be in the interests of France. The French President (Francois Hollande) reiterated this again at a joint press conference with the Prime Minister on July 21.
“We firmly believe in the established principle, enshrined in the Dublin Regulation, that those in need of protection should seek asylum in the first safe country they enter.”
Those in need of protection should seek asylum in the first safe country. A Home Office spokesman confirmed talks are due to take place with the French.