Britain tightens security at ports, airports

The Government today announced new security measures at ports and airports in an attempt to cut the number of asylum seekers entering the country.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said he hoped the measures would also help to deter terrorists like those who attacked New York and Washington last week and warned that the British authorities would be watching for anyone who incites violence.

Terrorism "is not just a problem limited to Britain but it is a global issue of international mobility, which the uncertainties created by the horrific attack on the United States last week will accelerate," Blunkett said in Dover.

He said five mobile gamma ray scanners costing £9 million to detect people hidden in vehicles will be installed at Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal at Coquelles in northern France.

Extra immigration officers will be deployed at the Coquelles terminal to intercept asylum seekers who have been trying to steal into Britain through the Channel Tunnel, Blunkett said.

Mr Blunkett said he had agreed with his French counterpart, Daniel Vaillant, that asylum seekers who trespass on Eurotunnel's Coquelles terminal, or damage it, will be prosecuted.

Home Office figures show 808 people entered Britain illegally through the tunnel in July and 726 in August.

Blunkett said Britain will create 3,000 more places at detention centres which will enable it to deport asylum seekers whose claims are rejected more quickly.

The Home Office on Wednesday released figures showing there is currently a backlog of 43,130 asylum applications awaiting a decision, compared to 103,000 in January 2000.

More than 80,000 people claimed asylum in Britain last year but it is not yet known how many would succeed.

Blunkett said he hoped the new measures would send a strong message to the gangs that smuggle asylum–seekers "that we mean business and they will have an increasingly difficult time in breaching our border controls."

Abuse by human traffickers was highlighted last year when 58 Chinese suffocated in a Dover–bound truck while seeking illegal entry in Britain.

Mr Blunkett said the authorities were also watching people within Britain who were threatening to incite terrorist activities. "Anyone who advocates, incites, organizes or trains people to kill others in this country will be picked up," he warned.