IMMIGRANTS

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British border guards in Calais have been banned from using X-rays to search for illegal immigrants in lorries, unless they ask for the stowaways' written permission. French authorities have blocked the use of the scanners, claiming they could breach European health and safety laws. They have told British immigration officials that if they want to use the machines they will first have to clear it with those they are looking for.

Given that the illegal immigrants do not want to be found, the chances of reaching such an agreement are zero, leaving the British no choice but to stop using the machines. The scanners, which have helped cut the number of illegal immigrants arriving in Dover by 88%, emit less radiation than an ordinary hospital X-ray and are used elsewhere in Europe with great success. Along with thermal-imaging devices and carbon dioxide detectors, British officers have been using gamma-ray scanners.

These £2million X-ray machines are run along the length of a lorry and create a detailed picture of its contents, removing the need for a physical search. They have proved so effective that since their introduction the number of illegal immigrants caught in Dover fell by 88% to 1,500 in 2006. (Source: Daily Mail, Jan/08)

Benefit claims by Eastern Europeans have almost trebled in the past year as the migrants continue to pour into Britain at the rate of 700 every day. The 112,000 receiving handouts such as Tax Credits is the equivalent of around one in every six of those who have moved here in such unprecedented numbers. Between April and June, a further 50,000 immigrants from the eight countries who joined the EU in May 2004, such as Poland, have arrived, taking the total to 683,000. The bill for the handouts, for which the migrants are all legally entitled, is an estimated £125m.

Once a migrant has been working here for 12 months, they are entitled to the same level of support as any British citizen. Word has also reached Poland of generous benefit payments to eastern Europeans with children, including a rule which allows workers to claim certain benefits related to children even if they do not travel to Britain and remain in their homeland. And many more migrants are bringing their children to live here, having initially settled alone. (Source: Daily Mail, Aug/07)

Around 150 immigrants facing removal from Britain are to be freed on bail to make room for some of those held at the troubled Harmondsworth Detention Centre in Middlesex. News of the releases came as officials said unrest at the centre, Britain's biggest, had been "contained" after day-long protests by inmates. Fires were lit inside and detainees gathered in a courtyard spelling out the words "SOS" and "Freedom" with what appeared to be sheets or clothing.

The protest broke out on the day a report was released raising concerns about poor relations between staff and detainees at the centre, near London's Heathrow airport. Chief Inspector Of Prisons Anne Owers said her report was the poorest she had yet issued. The unit was not meeting any of her major tests, and more than 60% of detainees said they felt unsafe, the report said. Lin Homer, Director General of the Immigration Nationality Directorate, described the unrest as a deliberate attempt to sabotage the removals process.

As the disturbances were being brought under control, she said some detainees would be moved from Harmondsworth to other IND or prison facilities. But around 150 other "immigration offenders", failed asylum-seekers or other illegal entrants due to be removed, would have to be be released to make room for them. In a statement, she said: "The situation at Harmondsworth remains contained. The perimeter remains secure, and no-one has escaped. "There has been no risk to the public. No injuries to staff or detainees have been reported." (Source: Sky News, Nov/06)

Bulgarians without UK visas or work permits have been told to head to Britain where they can easily get black-market jobs despite regular check-ups by authorities. A pair of Bulgarian undercover reporters found they could earn illegaly in a day in London what most Bulgarians earn in a month, despite the fact that they had no work permits.

Journalists working for 24 Chasa, one of Bulgaria's biggest newspapers, wrote that they earned £50 a day on a construction site and £70 a day in a real estate agency. The average monthly wage in Bulgaria is around £70 a month. The undercover journalists' report was published and concluded that Bulgarians travelling to the UK illegally can easily attain jobs despite recent measures to curb illegal immigration.

The Bulgarian article also quoted Home Secretary John Reid's statement that it will be very difficult for UK authorities to stick to the government restrictions for Bulgarian and Romanian workers after they join the EU in 2007. One of the reporters described how he went on a job interview in a real estate agency with a fake CV and a forged home office document he had obtained for £30, stating that his visa was currently under consideration.

The reporter told the unnamed company's HR manager that his self-employment visa had expired and that his passport was with the home office while a new visa was being issued. He was employed on the spot as a real estate agent despite the fact that the only ID document he was able to produce was his Bulgarian driving licence. The journalists also went to an illegal labour market on the corner of Cricklewood Lane and Sheldon Road in North London.

The men stand there every morning between 6 and 8am waiting to get picked up by employers looking for manual workers. The scheme reportedly involves English employers who hire Indian, Pakistani or Albanian subcontractors, who then look for black market workers willing to work for up to 13 hours a day for £50, less than half of what skilled English labourers would demand.

The reporters then described how they and ten Poles were picked up by an Indian subcontractor with a bus and taken to a construction site somewhere in London. The foreman at the site was also a Bulgarian without a working permit. After working there for a few days they were approached by another Albanian subcontractor who offered them a job.

In a separate development, it was revealed that 2006 has seen a record number of Bulgarian citizenships granted to foreigners. Over 6,000 foreigners have been granted Bulgarian citizenship since the beginning of the year, in a trend that is believed to be triggered by Bulgaria's admission to the European Union in January 2007. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Nov/06)

Hundreds of thousands of migrants from Moldova, Europe's poorest country, have secured a backdoor route allowing them to flood into Britain. More than 300,000 Moldovans have taken advantage of a special arrangement which allows them a Romanian passport. And, once Romania joins the EU in January 2007, the Moldovans will have the exact same rights of free entry to Britain as their neighbours. Experts had already estimated 600,000 Romanian and Bulgarians may flood into the UK in search of work. The Moldovans could now push that figure closer to one million.

Official figures revealed the number of foreign workers in Britain is now 1.5 million, an increase of five per cent on a year ago. The rise is mainly down to the influx of eastern Europeans. The Office for National Statistics said last year probably saw the biggest ever entry of foreign workers to this country. Four out of five Moldovans citizens are living below the poverty line, and unemployment is eight per cent. Average wages are less than £100 a week. Even without free movement across the EU, a quarter of its working age population has fled to find work abroad.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch UK, said, "This is yet another immigration problem that the government failed to foresee. This rush for Romanian passports shows that a very large number of Moldavians specifically intend to migrate to the EU. The Home Office, which has promised to carefully 'manage' the latest wave of immigration, is powerless to stop Moldovans exploiting the passport loophole."

Under a law endorsed by Romania in 1991, any Moldovan with Romanian origins could claim the Romanian citizenship. Republic of Moldova, now the poorest country in Europe, was once part of Romania until the end of World War Two when it became part of the Soviet Union and remained there until August 1991. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Oct/06)