NO SANGATTE, JUST MORE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

In spite of the fact that Sangatte was closed in 2002 on the orders of Nicolas Sarkosy, the French Minister of the Interior at the time, after a meeting with David Blunkett, the then UK Minister of the Interior, illegal immigrants still continued to arrive in great numbers in the Calais area afterwards.

Many of us were scandalised to read in the press and to see on the television hundreds of illegal migrants living like tramps in the "Jungle" area near Calais. Our attention was drawn to them because of the health risks arising from a recent outbreak of scabies. This obliged the local authorities, on Human Rights grounds, to provide toilets and showers, as well as tents for decontamination purposes.

However, before we all, British and French alike, start ranting and raving about the existence of illegal immigrants near Calais, because we all know that they want to hop over the Channel and settle in the UK, or failing this, remain in France and settle there, we should become aware of and take into account the important changes which are currently taking place. These are briefly outlined below.

On the 16th October 2008, as a result of the initiative of the President of the European Union (EU), Nicolas Sarkosy, all 27 EU member states adopted the "European Pact on Immigration and Asylum".

This complex and tricky problem was then followed by the UK-French Summit which led to the signing of the "Declaration on Immigration" on 6th July 2009 at Evian in France.

As a result the two countries have created a working group in Calais, with experts from both sides. This group is now in operation and the intention is that it will meet each month.

Let us hope that the foregoing plans and intentions will once and for all rid us of the illegal and uninvited migrants in the UK and in France. In this connection we should remember that both countries already have a system for selective admissions of non-EU immigrants. These systems will need regular revisions and updating to eliminate newly idientified abuses.

Bearing in mind all the foregoing developements, the amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the UK, which was proposed by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London solves nothing. On the contrary, it would probably create a new tide, a tsunami perhaps, of desperate, illegal immigrants.

Without here and now going into the details of current problems concerning illegal immigrants, there is one fundamental observation which needs all our attention. The fact that Britain does not have a system of Identity Cards like almost every other major country in the world is an anachronism; it is inadmissible and it is certainly the most important reason why the UK cannot control illegal immigrants on its home soil.

Britons must face up to the fact that the world has changed. Now is no longer the 19th century. For a Briton today, the fundamental right he used to have, to be able to circulate in his own country without any official document permitting him to be identified, must be replaced by an obligation to always carry an Identity Card.

The Socialist Government has tried but failed to produce a computer package required for the introduction of Identity Cards. It is regrettable, but with the problems of this modern age, the project of introducing Identity Cards must be pursued with determination.

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