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ASYLUM SEEKERS

There's been an explosion in the number of asylum seekers trying to enter Kent illegally over the last decade.

Over 70,000 asylum seekers fled to Britain in the hope of getting sanctuary last year.

Many of them stowaway in the backs of lorries entering the UK on cross Channel ferries and the Channel Tunnel.

It's a dangerous game... Two years ago, 58 Chinese men were discovered dead in the back of a lorry. They had suffocated whilst being smuggled across the Channel.

Crossing the border

Inside Out decided to see how easy or hard it is to break into Britain.

Inside Out smuggled presenter Paul Ross on board a cross-Channel lorry

We succeeded in smuggling our presenter, Paul Ross, onto a cross-Channel lorry for five hours, without detection.

So why is it relatively easy for stowaways to slip through the border controls undetected?

Many asylum seekers slip through holes in fences, hide in lorries, and conceal themselves on freight trains.

But if the stowaways are getting cleverer so are the methods for detecting them.

Train companies and the police are using sophisticated detection devices including equipment that can identify a human breathing in a lorry.

Crossing the border

The asylum seeker's story starts far from Kent on the other side of the world.

Here's our guide to the main groups of asylum seekers seeking sanctuary.

Afghanistan

9,190 last year

Somalia

6,500 last year

Iran

3,450 last year

Zimbabwe

2,085 last year

China

2,415 last year

Sri Lanka

5,545 last year

Turkey

3,740 last year

FR Yugoslavia

3,190 last year

Iraq

6,805 last year

The main reasons that asylum seekers give for looking for refuge are:

• fleeing political or religious persecution, torture and repressive regimes

• economic reasons - trying to find work

• escaping from conflict and war

• searching for a better life, escaping from poverty and unemployment

Many asylum seekers arrive to a mixed reception. It's sometimes hard to differentiate between genuine refugees and illegal immigrants.

Illegal crossings

Many refugees from all over the world find themselves at the Red Cross camp at Sangatte in France.

They make repeated attempts each night to get on board trains bound for Britain. There have been dozens of incidents ..

10 May 2002

300 asylum seekers
attack the yard at Frethun in France

27 January 2002

French police arrest five Romanians suspected of tampering with railway signals so asylum seekers could get on board trains

25 December 2001

150 caught inside the Tunnel

6 November 2001

74 asylum seekers found hiding on freight trains travelling through the Tunnel

30 October 2001

154 arrested at Calais freight terminal

2 September 2001

100 refugees caught in the Coquelles compound in France

31 August 2001

80 refugees caught in Coquelles compound

30 August 2001

44 refugees held after walking into the Tunnel

June 2000

58 Chinese asylum seekers found dead in lorry container

The refugees target the marshalling yard at Frethun as well as the main Eurotunnel complex at Coquelles.

They cut through fencing and use diversionary tactics to get inside trucks and trains.

Once there, they hide on the top of wagons and in between carriages of cargo trains bound for Britain. Several have died trying to ride the trains.

What can be done?

Measures to prevent asylum seekers breaking into Kent have been stepped up.

Extra policing, hi-tec security and special security teams are making a difference.

But the root causes of the asylum problem still remain.

Until the bigger problems of asylum seekers are tackled, it's clear that the problem isn't likely to go away.