UK NEWS
NOW MIGRANTS ARE SMUGGLED IN CLUB CLASS
SMUGGLED: Immigrants queue to get into Britain in Calais
Thursday May 14,2009
By Nick Fagge
WEALTHY illegal immigrants are paying up to £10,000 each to be smuggled into Britain “club class” via tourist flights to Ireland.
Migrants from across Asia and the Middle East are selling their homes and businesses to pay for the door-to-door service and realise their dream of starting a new life in Britain.
Traffickers supply expertly-forged travel documents including passports and visas, French police revealed yesterday.
They lay on flights to the Republic of Ireland from where migrants simply walk across the border into the UK and take a ferry to England and Scotland.
The route, which offers a much better chance of instant success than trying to reach the UK via Calais, is becoming increasingly popular.
Last night there was growing concern that the smugglers were breaking through Britain’s borders. Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “We should be worried that smugglers are confident they can bypass our passport and visa systems.
“These should be the strongest part of our defences against illegal immigration, certainly
not a weak spot.” The sophisticated operation was laid bare following the arrest of 10 smugglers in Paris on Tuesday who made more than £500,000 in just nine months.
The suspects have made full confessions in exchange for a reduction in prison sentences which could top 10 years.
Based in a rundown flat close to the Gare du Nord Eurostar station in Paris, the gang booked dozens of flights into the Republic of Ireland for migrants who had already made it into Europe, some as far away as Greece.
Thousands of migrants from Asia, the Middle East and Africa flood into Greece every year to claim asylum in Britain and other rich EU states.
Many spend months – or years – trying to make the next step on their journey to Italy.
But it has emerged that the wealthy simply hand over vast sums of money and are supplied with the relevant documents and put on a plane to the Republic of Ireland and on to Britain.
France’s anti-illegal immigration agency OCRIEST said: “It was a club class service for migrants who sold their homes and businesses to start a new life in the UK.
“These were people who were prepared to devote their life savings to getting to their Eldorado, and an airborne immigration package was their best option.”
OCRIEST agency chief Jean-Michel Fauvergue said: “This gang was extremely well organised and not solely operating on French territory.
“They were responsible for trafficking large numbers of Iranians, Afghans, Kurds and Iraqis into Britain.” The office said illegal immigrants were booked on to tourist flights to Ireland from as far away as Greece.
Once in Ireland they would use their false papers to enter Britain via domestic flights by ferry to Scotland and England.
A source within OCRIEST added: “It is a highly sophisticated route and a much quicker and hassle-free option than travelling to Calais to try to get in the back of a lorry”
OCRIEST has evidence that the gang, made up of Iraqis, Iranians and Algerians, had smuggled at least 150 people over the past nine months.
Most went to Britain, while others chose to start new lives in Scandinavia and Canada.
As well as the “club class” service the network also offered cheaper packages such as £1,000 to be smuggled from Calais to Dover and £3,000 to be smuggled from Greece to France.
The migrants were “corralled” in safe houses across Paris before they were taken to small regional airports for flights to Ireland or to the French Channel ports and loaded on trucks bound for Britain.
Hundreds of young Afghans and Iraqis roam the streets of Paris every day as they wait for the next leg of their journey to Britain.
Many have to wait for further funds from their homeland to arrive to pay traffickers. Others work illegally – or turn to crime – to try to pay off the criminal gangs.
This is the first time French police have smashed a ring using Ireland as a stepping-stone to Britain.
A UK Border Agency spokesman said: “We are working closely with the Republic of Ireland to tackle illegal immigration through the latest high-tech border technology, joint sea and port operations and the continued exchange of intelligence.”
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/100902/Now-migrants-are-smuggled-in-club-class
TIED IN WITH THE ABOVE…UNLAWFULLY LARGE CLASS SIZES!!
UK NEWS
MORE INFANT CLASS SIZES BREAK LIMIT
Growing numbers of infant school pupils are being taught in classes larger than 30
Wednesday May 13,2009
Growing numbers of infant school pupils are being taught in classes bigger than the legal limit of 30.
The number of children aged five to seven in England in unlawfully large classes rose to 10,010 in January, up from 6,380 last year and more than double the 2007 figure of 4,280.
This represents 310 classes with more than 30 pupils, or 0.6% of all Key Stage 1 classes – an increase on 200 classes (0.4%) the previous year and 130 (0.2%) in 2007.
The census of English schools in January found another 580 infant classes (1.1% of the total) which were over the limit but met specific circumstances that allow larger sizes.
These included schools where extra pupils were admitted on the basis of an independent appeal panel decision or outside the normal admission round.
Overall the average primary school class size remains level at 26.2, and secondary school class sizes fell slightly to 20.6 from 20.9 last year.
Schools Minister Jim Knight said primary schools had better staffing levels than ever before and insisted that the problem would be tackled.
He said: “Infant class sizes were a national disgrace in 1997 – and it was a scandal that almost a third of children were in oversized classes.
“We now have strong legal measures to ensure that almost all infant classes are below 30. The less than 1% that are unlawfully large must take immediate steps to comply with the law.
“All of the unlawfully large sized classes last year were brought within acceptable limits and I expect prompt action to be taken again to ensure compliance. I continue to work with local authorities to ensure that they have the funding and powers to deal with any rise in primary numbers.”
