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| UK benefits a magnet to migrants, says Calais mayor | UK benefits a magnet to migrants, says Calais mayor |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Illegal migrants see the UK as a "soft touch" and its benefits system acts as a "magnet" to them, the mayor of the French city of Calais has told MPs. | Illegal migrants see the UK as a "soft touch" and its benefits system acts as a "magnet" to them, the mayor of the French city of Calais has told MPs. |
| Natacha Bouchart added that the fences placed around UK border controls set up in the city "make everybody laugh". | Natacha Bouchart added that the fences placed around UK border controls set up in the city "make everybody laugh". |
| "These people are ready and prepared to die to come to England," she told the Home Affairs Committee. | "These people are ready and prepared to die to come to England," she told the Home Affairs Committee. |
| Calais has struggled in recent months with increasing numbers of migrants arriving and trying to get to the UK. | Calais has struggled in recent months with increasing numbers of migrants arriving and trying to get to the UK. |
| Prime Minister David Cameron has urged "action right across the board" and "full-hearted cooperation between the British and French authorities to make sure we can stop people getting on to trains, getting on to container lorries or other vehicles and coming across the Channel". | Prime Minister David Cameron has urged "action right across the board" and "full-hearted cooperation between the British and French authorities to make sure we can stop people getting on to trains, getting on to container lorries or other vehicles and coming across the Channel". |
| His official spokeswoman said the government's focus was to study "pull factors and address them." Migrants now have to wait three months before claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and can only receive it for six months, she added. | His official spokeswoman said the government's focus was to study "pull factors and address them." Migrants now have to wait three months before claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and can only receive it for six months, she added. |
| French police used tear gas this week as hundreds of migrants tried to climb on to trucks bound for the UK. | French police used tear gas this week as hundreds of migrants tried to climb on to trucks bound for the UK. |
| Ms Bouchart estimated that 2,500 illegal immigrants were now living in Calais and that most were Eritrean, Ethiopian, Sudanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Lebanese, Iranian and Iraqi. | Ms Bouchart estimated that 2,500 illegal immigrants were now living in Calais and that most were Eritrean, Ethiopian, Sudanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Lebanese, Iranian and Iraqi. |
| Calais was suffering problems from "a lot of mafia and traffickers in this population", Ms Bouchart said. | Calais was suffering problems from "a lot of mafia and traffickers in this population", Ms Bouchart said. |
| She added: "There hasn't been a message from the British government or anywhere else that it's not El Dorado." | She added: "There hasn't been a message from the British government or anywhere else that it's not El Dorado." |
| Asked by the committee's chairman, Labour MP Keith Vaz whether the UK was seen as "a soft touch for those that want to come here", she replied: "Oui." | Asked by the committee's chairman, Labour MP Keith Vaz whether the UK was seen as "a soft touch for those that want to come here", she replied: "Oui." |
| 'Favourable regime' | |
| Ms Bouchart, speaking via an interpreter, added: "You have a much more favourable regime in Britain than other countries. The second thing is the entitlement to benefits of £36 which are given to asylum seekers or migrants, which is a huge amount for people who have nothing in their lives." | Ms Bouchart, speaking via an interpreter, added: "You have a much more favourable regime in Britain than other countries. The second thing is the entitlement to benefits of £36 which are given to asylum seekers or migrants, which is a huge amount for people who have nothing in their lives." |
| Ms Bouchart said the "real magnet is the benefits that are perceived in Great Britain". | Ms Bouchart said the "real magnet is the benefits that are perceived in Great Britain". |
| The official UK border was moved to France in 2003 in an effort to stop illegal immigrants reaching British soil to claim asylum. | The official UK border was moved to France in 2003 in an effort to stop illegal immigrants reaching British soil to claim asylum. |
| 'Adversely affected' | |
| This was recently reinforced with fencing previously used for security at a Nato conference. But Ms Bouchart said: "The fence makes everybody laugh." | This was recently reinforced with fencing previously used for security at a Nato conference. But Ms Bouchart said: "The fence makes everybody laugh." |
| Some 7,500 migrants have been arrested in Calais this year. The UK has agreed to contribute £12m (15m euros; $19m) to help manage the situation. | Some 7,500 migrants have been arrested in Calais this year. The UK has agreed to contribute £12m (15m euros; $19m) to help manage the situation. |
| UKIP said it had sympathy with Ms Bouchart at having to deal with the disturbances in Calais but the UK needed to send a message that "its streets are not paved with gold". | |
| "From her experience it is evident that even though Britain has not signed the Schengen Agreement, this country is adversely affected by the lack of European and French action on migration," said the party's immigration spokesman MEP Steven Woolfe. | |
| "However, the problem she highlights is not one of the British welfare system, but of the way in which it can be misused. | |
| "Welfare in the UK should be there for our own citizens, who have paid in, or whose family have paid in. It is not something for anybody turning up at our borders to be able to access." | |
| Welfare spending | |
| The benefits that EU migrants can claim in another EU country vary across the 28-nation bloc but certain basic rules are enshrined in EU law. | |
| The UK does not rank highest in terms of total spending on social security per inhabitant. | |
| According to the EU statistics agency Eurostat, the UK spent nearly £6,660 (8,000 euros) in 2010, with France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands all spending more than 9,000 euros. | |
| At the other end of the scale, spending in Bulgaria and Romania was below 2,000 euros. | |
| In the UK, a bigger portion of welfare is funded by the state than is the case in Poland, France, Germany or the Netherlands. In those countries, more is funded from individual and employer contributions with benefits more closely linked to previous earnings. | |
| On the other hand, in several countries, including the Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, the share of state funding is higher than in the UK. |