France to open 'new Sangatte' for asylum seekers heading to Britain

Councillors in the French port are expected to defy governments in London and Paris tonight and grant planning permission for a permanent, purpose-built refuge just yards from the ferry terminal.

The council has also announced plans to open a temporary emergency cold weather shelter for up to 500 of the estimated 1,300 refugees living on the streets.

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The projects are the first refugee shelters in Calais since the the closure five years ago of the Sangatte Red Cross hostel - used as a base by up to 60,000 illegal immigrants trying to sneak into Britain.

There are fears in London that the new shelters will act as a magnet for refugees and bring a fresh wave of mass illegal immigration.

The centre likely to be approved tonight - and funded by local taxpayers - will provide showers, food and laundry facilities for the mainly African, Asian and Middle Eastern refugees living rough or in squalid woodland encampments.

Mayor Jacky Henin, a communist, says he is prepared to defy London, Paris and his regional governor and let building work begin within weeks.

Sir Andrew Green, from Migration Watch UK, said: "This is clearly shaping up as Sangatte 2 despite the earlier assurances of the French government.

"It's absolutely wrong that the French should simply wave people towards Britain. They should grant asylum themselves or send them back to their own countries."

The Calais refugee charity C'Sur, which will run the centre, says it is needed because of Britain's "thriving black jobs market".

C'Sur leader and local priest Father Jean-Pierre Boutoille said: "The refugees aren't flooding into Calais to drink our soup. It is Britain's thriving black economy that attracts them, we are just a stop-over point. But we are morally obliged to respond to the humanitarian need that stems from that.

"All refugees know Britain is one of the few countries where they can easily find work illegally. If Britain put a stop to this black jobs market we wouldn't need a centre."

The charity is banned from providing beds under the 2002 agreement to close Sangatte between former Home Secretary David Blunkett and French president Nicolas Sarkozy, then the interior minister. But Fr Boutoille said refugees could stay all night in "comfortable chairs".

The emergency winter shelter is due to open shortly in a former dockers' job centre less than ten minutes walk from the ferry port.

It can accommodate 500 people and includes canteens, hot showers, toilets and heated rooms.

Calais MP Gilles Cocquempot said: "Hundreds of refugees are living in deplorable unhygienic conditions. If one of these poor souls dies because of the extreme cold we will not be able to look at ourselves in the mirror."

The number of refugees caught crossing from Calais has fallen from 10,000 five years ago to 1,500 last year. But it is feared the centres could send numbers soaring again.

The border-free Schengen zone is extended today to another nine EU countries, taking the total to 24. It means people can travel from the Ukraine border to Calais without having to show a passport.