M. Barrot whose own past doesn’t bear too close examination should, as the one responsible for the law be enforcing the law, rather than seeking to change it to benefit the lawbreakers.
M. Barrot is a convicted criminal. He was convicted in a French court of embezzlement in 2000. The case involved the diverting of £2 million of government money to his party. He received an eight month suspended prison sentence but was pardoned by Jacques Chirac. (Wikpedia)
Christina
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DAILY EXPRESS 21.9.09
‘IF MIGRANTS WANT TO HEAD TO BRITAIN THEN JUST LET THEM’
By Cyril Dixon
A SENIOR French Eurocrat will today demand a change in the law to allow “Britain-obsessed” asylum-seekers an easier ride across our borders.
Jacques Barrot hopes his plan will force Britain to take in thousands of migrants from the notorious Calais camp dubbed “the Jungle”.
Mr Barrot, EU Justice Commissioner, wants to scrap a rule that newcomers should take refuge in the country where they enter Europe. He will argue at a Brussels meeting of EU ministers that asylum-seekers should be allowed the right to settle anywhere they choose.
The change would mean thousands of Asians who head for Britain through Italy and Greece, would be allowed in rather than being sent back to the Mediterranean.
His campaign comes as police will today begin to disperse migrants sleeping rough in the Jungle – only to see them set up alternative camps elsewhere.
The French authorities have insisted the camp on the town’s outskirts will be cleared by the end of this week.
But as police move its 800 mostly-Afghan occupants, there are fears many will simply set up camp elsewhere along the coast.
Ahead of today’s meeting, Mr Barrot complained that he “had a lot of difficulties” introducing his new law because of British opposition.
He added: “In order for the closure of the Jungle in Calais to make sense, it is necessary to share the burden between France and Great Britain, at least when it comes to asylum seekers. National solutions to the problem are not viable. The people who are in Calais have crossed Europe and have one obsession, to get to Great Britain.
“With the modification of the current system, we should be able to convince the British to consider the claims of the asylum-seekers who are stuck in the Jungle.
“They have family links with the UK, or the ability to integrate, thanks to the communities of their compatriots.” Mr Barrot’s intervention follows a request to Britain from Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to admit migrants with large families. Sir Andrew Green, director of MigrationWatch UK, said the proposal would simply attract more migrants to the Calais shanty towns.
He said: “This seems to suggest that asylum seekers should be given asylum in Britain without even arriving here. I can’t think of a better way to add to those queues of people waiting in Calais.”
Home Office figures show 25,930 asylum seekers applied to enter Britain last year, compared with 23,430 the previous year. About one in seven is usually allowed to stay.
In a separate development yesterday, it emerged that UK Borders Agency staff are to try out a scheme to give asylum seekers DNA tests in a bid to confirm their nationality.
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