FRANCE: BRITISH HOME SECRETARY DAVID BLUNKETT MEETS WITH FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER NICOLAS SARKOZY AND THE CLOSURE OF SANGATTE REFUGEE CAMP IS ANNOUNCED

Record ID: 190189

  • Title: FRANCE: BRITISH HOME SECRETARY DAVID BLUNKETT MEETS WITH FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER NICOLAS SARKOZY AND THE CLOSURE OF SANGATTE REFUGEE CAMP IS ANNOUNCED
  • Date: 12th July 2002
  • Summary: (U5) PARIS, FRANCE (JULY 12, 2002) (REUTERS TV) 1. MV BRITISH HOME SECRETARY DAVID BLUNKETT'S CAR ARRIVING AT THE INTERIOR MINISTRY 0.04 2. MV BLUNKETT GETTING OUT OF CAR AND GREETED BY FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER NICOLAS SARKOZY / HANDSHAKE / POSE FOR PRESS / BOTH MINISTERS ENTERING BUILDING (3 SHOTS) 0.0 3. ROUNDTABLE WITH SARKOZY AND BLUNKETT SEATED SIDE BY SIDE AND OTHER MEMBERS OF DELEGATIONS (4 SHOTS) 0.47 4. MV SARKOZY HOLDING BLUNKETT'S HAND ARRIVING IN CONFERENCE ROOM 1.00 5. GV BOTH MINISTERS SEATED AND DISCUSSING 1.03 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVID BLUNKETT, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY SAYING: "The decision of the last four weeks was to address a range of issues, not merely the closure of Sangatte. It may well be that northern Iraq proves to be a safer zone in the months and years ahead given the no-fly zone and the measures that have been taken there but whatever happens and for whatever region of the world, the signal is very clear from us this afternoon: firstly, there will not be the magnet of Sangatte, secondly, there will not be the magnet of Britain in terms of previous nationalities or asylum policy. Thirdly, there will be entirely new measures at the freight depots mirroring the success at Calais." 1.42 7. REPORTER TAKING NOTES 1.45 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BLUNKETT SAYING: "That message together with the closure of Sangatte is the most powerful way in which we can tell individuals and organized criminals who are trafficking them, there is no longer a method, a gateway and avenue for getting into the U.K." 2.01 9. MV CEILING LIGHT PAN DOWN SARKOZY 2.04 10. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER NICOLAS SARKOZY SAYING "The date of closure will be precisely indicated in September but we can say, as of today, foresee the closure of Sangatte between the last quarter 2002 and the first quarter 2003." 2.21 11. SLV BOTH MINISTERS SHAKING HANDS 2.25 12. GV CONFERENCE ROOM Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 27th July 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVA3X1PWQGD0HXTFQ8VKZZDJBRV7
  • Story Text: France and Britain have agreed that the controversial
    Sangatte refugee camp could close by the end of the first
    quarter next year providing Britain implements legislation to
    discourage illegal immigration.



    French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and British
    Home Secretary David Blunkett held talks on Friday (July 12, 2002)
    in order to reach an agreement over a refugee camp which has
    soured relations between the two countries.

    Both ministers agreed that the Sangatte centre will close
    three to six months after new laws and policies come into
    force in the UK.

    Both ministers said schedules for closure of the camp near
    the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel would be confirmed
    during another meeting of British Home Secretary David
    Blunkett and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at the
    site in September.

    Blunkett said that by choking-off the route, a strong
    message would go out to those behind illegal immigration.

    "That message, together with the closure of Sangatte, is
    the most powerful way in which we can tell individuals and
    organized criminals who are trafficking them, there is no longer a
    method, a gateway and avenue for getting into the U.K.," he
    told the conference.

    Scores of asylum seekers at the camp, which houses around
    1,200 Afghans and Kurds, launch nightly sorties to the nearby
    channel tunnel rail terminal and try to board freight trains
    heading to Britain.

    France has been threatened by the European Commission with
    legal action for failing to ensure free movement of goods
    through the tunnel due to security problems at the camp. It
    has promised to restore rail traffic to normal by November.

    Sarkozy, a straight-talker known as the security tsar of
    President Jacques Chirac, has said the deadlock was poisoning
    relations between London and Paris. He insists that the camp
    can only be closed if Britain toughens its immigration laws.

    However, he said this week that France had accepted a
    United Nations offer to mediate in the row over the Red Cross camp,
    which London complains is a jumping-off point for illegal
    immigrants travelling to Britain.

    "Today we can envisage the closure of Sangatte between the
    last quarter of 2002 and the first quarter of 2003," Sarkozy
    told a news conference after his meeting with Blunkett.

    He announced a series of other measures which involved
    tightening security at the French end of the Channel Tunnel.


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