HL Deb 24 September 2002 vol 638 cc213-4WA
Lord Marlesford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will give, for each month from January 2000 to date, the number of illegal immigrants who are known to have arrived via the Channel Tunnel. [HL5462]

Lord Filkin

It is not possible to establish precisely how many illegal entrants have reached the United Kingdom after travelling through the Channel Tunnel on freight trains. Some are detected inland and cannot be attributed to a particular port of entry and some claim to use the Channel Tunnel but have in fact entered by a different route.

Provisional management information for 2000 shows that 100 illegal entrants arrived at Cheriton platform having travelled on board open-sided freight shuttles through the Channel Tunnel.

In 2001 and the first quarter of 2002, locally collected, provisional management information indicates the following monthly arrivals:

Cheriton Platform Arrivals Number
Jan 2001 195
Feb 2001 411
Mar 2001 515
Apr 2001 553
May 2001 565
June 2001 745
Jul 2001 808
Aug 2001 726
Sep 2001 465
Oct 2001 133
Nov 2001 40
Dec 2001 36
Jan 2002 100
Feb 2002 61
Mar 2002 31

In 2000, 1,312 illegal entrants arrived at Dollands Moor rail freight yard having arrived on freight trains through the Channel Tunnel.

In 2001 and the first quarter of 2002 provisional management information indicates the following numbers of illegal entrants who were detected having arrived in the United Kingdom at Dollands Moor:

Dollands Moor Arrivals Number
Jan 2001 189
Feb 2001 139
Mar 2001 151
Apr 2001 40
May 2001 121
June 2001 92
Jul 2001 68
Aug 2001 69
Sep 2001 35
Oct 2001 274
Nov 2001 289
Dec 2001 96
Jan 2002 57
Dollands Moor Arrivals Number
Feb 2002 288
Mar 2002 109