Illegal Immigration Made Easy By EU Rules

Schengen will be 'disaster for Britain' PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 21 December 2007

At a time when many people are calling for tougher border controls, the EU is set to make illegal immigration much easier.

Today, nine new countries join the Schengen Area which will result in the abolition of border controls between participating countries, the harmonisation of external border controls and a common policy on temporary visas.

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage MEP said the removal of border posts and checks was "lunacy" and would result in an increase in illegal immigration and people-trafficking.

"We are now essentially neighbours with countries such as the Ukraine and Belarus, who have serious problems with organised crime and corruption," Mr Farage said.

"Because our own checks are so flimsy, it is going to make it much easier for someone to get into Western Europe and Britain from these former Soviet countries because there will be so few controls.”

The nine countries are Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic

Mr Farage said: "We will still hear our politicians bleating about controlling immigration and the horror of people-trafficking, yet at the same time, they are making it much easier for people to come to this country illegally and for criminal gangs to exploit desperate people who want to work in the West.

"We are now relying on the border police of the enlargement countries such as Hungary and Slovakia to check for false passports and papers and people being smuggled over borders.

"Even though we are not a part of the Schengen Area, this will be a disaster for Britain."

It is not only UKIP that is seriously concerned. German politicians and and top police officers warn that unresolved security problems could mean a rise in crime and illegal immigration

Security expert Wolfgang Bosbach says there are significant weaknesses on the eastern borders of the extended Schengen zone and forecasts that gangs of people-smugglers in Ukraine and Belarus will become much more active.
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