BBC
The cynic in me keeps thinking
"Look out for a flood of immigrants through the chunnel, ferrys etc"
Quote:
France's government has announced a raft of new measures designed to tackle illegal immigration.
The new rules include the introduction of visas with biometric information, as well as an increase in expulsions.
"When it comes to illegal immigration, the rule has to be firmness," interior minister Dominique de Villepin told Le Figaro newspaper.
He also said the EU constitution - to be voted on in a referendum on 29 May - would make immigration control easier.
This was because asylum and immigration issues would be decided by majority vote, rather than requiring unanimity among the 25 EU member states, he said.
No amnesty
Mr De Villepin said there were between 200,000 and 400,000 illegal immigrants in France - the first time such figures have been made public.
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