Stowaways try out other routes
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• More than 500 would-bestowaways were detained in just one week near the perimeter of the French Eurotunnel site last month—further proof that immigrants are targeting different routes to avoid being caught by CO2 checks at the Calais ferry terminal.
Last week a stowaway from Iraq was found dead at the French Eurotunnel terminal at Coquelles alongside another suspected illegal immigrant with superficial injuries. It is believed that they were attempting to board a moving train.
However, Eurotunnel denies that the P&O CO2 checks were the reason for the change in numbers: "We noticed no immediate increase when P&O Stena started their CO2 checks on 6 December 2000.
"Between Christmas and the New Year we began to notice an increase in numbers of wouldbe stowaways attempting to board our shuttles at the French Terminal. We attributed this to the record number of people housed in the Sangette refuge; there were almost 1,400 of them over the holiday period," says a spokeswoman.
"The increase in the number of people we have intercepted at the Terminal has continued through the month of January," she added.
A Home Office spokeswoman says: "The UK Immigration Service is keeping a very close eye on the displacement of undocumented clandestine entrants following the successful introduction of P&O Stena checks in Calais. It would deploy its staff flexibly, if necessary, to deal with changing operational priorities."
• In a bid to deal with the wider problem of people trafficking, the government has launched a joint Anglo-Italian initiative to clamp down on gangsters smuggling people through the Balkans.
It threatens to use the "strongest possible measures" Including jail sentences of up to 14 years.