The Red Cross camp at Sangatte, near Calais, may well be only a small extra incentive for asylum-seekers and economic migrants who have crossed a continent or two on their way (they hope) to a better life in Britain. But nightly pictures of the camp's inmates storming into freight terminals and on to trains entering the Channel Tunnel (at great cost to freight and rail operators) have made Sangatte a symbol of Britain's perceived invasion by unwashed hordes. So reports on May 22nd that a deal was about to be struck with France to close the Sangatte camp ought to have pleased the government. In fact, no deal has been reached, and none is likely to be until after next month's French elections. British government sources say that any arrangement will have to include better protection of France's land borders. But―and here's the rub-it may also involve Britain taking in, if only temporarily, some of the camp's current inmates. "Blackmail", yelped the Daily Mail, a tabloid, which, like the Conservatives and others, wants Britain to send asylum-seekers back to France, rather than the other way around.
展开▼
