Brown in £15m border control pledge (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Brown in £15m border control pledge

5:47pm Monday 6th July 2009

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Britain has promised £15 million to tighten border controls in French ports where hundreds of would-be migrants gather in the hope of smuggling themselves into the UK.

The cash will pay for new technology to search vehicles and goods heading for Britain.

The offer was made by Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his summit with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Evian, France.

In return, Mr Sarkozy undertook to step up the removal of illegal immigrants to their home countries.

Since the closure of the Red Cross refugee centre at Sangatte in 2002, would-be migrants have been sleeping rough in and around Calais while they make attempts - sometimes on a daily basis - to cross to the UK by hiding on board cross-Channel trains and ferries.

Several hundred migrants, many from Afghanistan and Iraq, are reported to sleep in makeshift tents in an area nicknamed The Jungle outside Calais.

A joint Franco-British declaration issued following the Evian summit states that the situation on the French side of the Channel is "of concern due to the continued migratory pressure resulting from the presence of significant numbers of irregular migrants attempting to reach British territory".

A pilot of the hi-tech systems will be carried out at Calais before being extended to Boulogne, Dunkirk and the Channel Tunnel terminal at Coquelles.

Hailing the agreement, immigration minister Phil Woolas said: "We have one of the strongest borders in the world, and today's agreement with our French counterparts has made it even more secure.

"An extra £15 million has been invested to pay for new technology as part of a hi-tech pilot in Calais. This will see the latest state-of-the-art technology being used to boost searches of vehicles and goods heading for Britain."

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