As a result, authentic refugees can be slandered as 'illegal immigrants' when they arrive at Dover. To make sure they get the message, Britain and her European allies fine the owners of planes, trains, ships, cars and lorries if they carry passengers who don't have visas. Last week the last breach in the walls was plugged when France agreed to allow British immigration officers on to the Eurostar. The various News at Tens reported the restrictions as a blow against illegal immigrants without explaining why the aliens were illegal or noting that genuine victims of persecution were among their number. I suppose I've no right to be shocked after all these years.
Desperate people take desperate measures.
For want of legal means of travel, refugees have turned to smugglers and visa forgers whose businesses have been boosted by Blair and his colleagues. Not everything is going the gangsters' way. The keepers of Fortress Europe remain frustrated, however, and plan to get rougher still. The French are proposing that carriers who allow undocumented refugees to travel should be fined and then made to return them to the point of embarkation. Straw, meanwhile, is demanding mass expulsions.