Smugglers conned Calais refugees says UN

The UN refugee agency today backed the French decision to evict a group of refugees holed up in a Calais church and suggested they had been conned by people traffickers.

“The French handled the situation sensitively,” said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“We understand most of the people who were in the church have now claimed asylum in France. This is good.

“It means that if they are refugees they will be given asylum status and if not they’ll be treated as illegal immigrants. We have no problem with that.”

The refugees had hoped to sneak into Britain via the nearby Channel Tunnel. With a Red Cross shelter closed to new arrivals last week, they were given temporary refuge last weekend at the church, closed for repairs. However, they refused to leave.

“We get the impression many people did not know they were entitled to apply for asylum in France,” Redmond said. “The people smugglers kept it from them.”