Britain was considered an “easy touch” by people traffickers and the facilitators of illegal immigration in 2002, according to classified government files which have just been released.
In January 2002 the then home secretary, David Blunkett, wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair about discussions with the French government about the closure of the Sangatte refugee camp, near Calais.
Sangatte had been opened by the Red Cross in 1999 to cater for migrants who were trying to get across the English Channel from France to England and by 2001 it had become a magnet for illegal immigrants from Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.
In November 2001, Mr. Blair met the French prime minister, Lionel Jospin, and urged him to close the Sangatte camp….