Plea to close Sangatte rejected

Asylum seekers try to enter the tunnel each night

A French court has rejected a fresh application by the Channel Tunnel operator to force the closure of a refugee camp which is said to be a base for immigrants attempting to cross illegally into Britain.

We will continue to exert pressure on the two governments who must solve this problem humanely

Alain Bertrand
Eurotunnel

Eurotunnel argued that circumstances had changed since its unsuccessful legal attempt in September to shut the Sangatte refugee camp, located just two kilometres from the tunnel's entrance.

It said the attempt by hundreds of refugees to storm the tunnel on Christmas night, demonstrated that the camp posed a security threat.

But the court in Lille accepted local authorities' arguments that the problem was not the camp itself, but the attraction of the tunnel for refugees.

Security costs

Groups of asylum seekers from the camp, which is managed by the Red Cross, try to board trains heading for England through the tunnel every night.

Eurotunnel complained that the company was being asked to bear unreasonable costs to keep the immigrants at bay and that the police had done little to prosecute those apprehended trying to break into the tunnel compound.

The court was shown footage recorded by Eurotunnel security cameras on the night of 25 December, featuring migrants tearing through the fences to get to the track.

The company says it has to spend 4.9m euros ($4.2m) on extra security measures. It had intercepted 18,500 people trying to cross into Britain during the first half of 2001, it said.

Despite its second defeat in the courts, Eurotunnel said it would not abandon efforts to get the camp moved.

"We will continue to exert pressure on the two governments who must solve this problem humanely," said Alain Bertrand, the deputy managing director.

Overcrowded

The Sangatte refugee centre was originally built as a warehouse for the construction of the tunnel and was requisitioned by French authorities in 1999 to house asylum seekers who had been sleeping rough.

Refugees risk their lives to smuggle themselves onto trains

As many as 44,000 people are believed to have passed through the gates.

At present 1,400 people are housed at the camp, which is designed to hold only 600 people. Many of them are Iraqi Kurds, Afghans and Iranians.

"There are still too many people at Sangatte, and if we were to close the centre, those people would find themselves on the streets of Calais, and that is unacceptable," Employment and Solidarity Minister Elisabeth Guigou said last month.

Risky business

Tens of thousands of migrants cross Europe every year, many of them heading for Britain where they hope to find work on the black market.

Many risk their lives to do so.

Several of the immigrants from the Sangatte camp are known to have died making risky attempts to board trains, ships and trucks.

On 19 January, a man was electrocuted and killed while hiding on top of a freight train headed toward the tunnel.