France closes immigration loophole

Eurostar: Increased passport control to prevent illegal immigration

PARIS, France -- A security loophole has been closed by France to prevent illegal immigrants using the Eurostar Channel trains.

The law will allow British immigration officers to check the passports of passengers boarding the trains in Paris, and for French counterparts to do the same in London.

At present, passengers who board the train at Paris Gare du Nord with a ticket to an intermediate stop near the French port of Calais do not undergo passport checks.

The law, due to take effect this summer, aims to close a loophole that has allowed up to 400 illegal immigrants a month to enter Britain at London's Waterloo station and claim political asylum.

French approval for the tightened checks follows agreement at a summit in February between President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Asylum applications in Britain hit a record 76,000 last year -- up from 4,000 at the end of the Cold War -- with a large proportion entering from France.

Under current regulations, many of those arrested in the UK are simply returned to temporary Red Cross accommodation at Calais from where they are free to make another attempt to reach the UK.

The trade in illegal immigrants is worth more than $30 billion a year and has become a lucrative market for organised crime syndicates.

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French Government
UK Home Office
Eurostar

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