"Ministers aren't taking the simple and accepted step of returning people to France when they've come through Calais to claim asylum here," the minister told The Daily Mail, branding the government "incompetent".
A Home Office spokesperson, quoted by the outlet, however, refutes the accusations saying that the government is correctly following existing regulations to send immigrants back.
"We will not shoulder the burden of asylum claims which should rightly be considered by other countries. We are taking full advantage of the Dublin Regulation to return asylum seekers to other countries," a Home Office spokesperson said. Dublin Regulation determines in which EU country an asylum seeker can make a claim, typically the first state of entry.
The small quantity of returned asylum seekers is blamed on EU rules, which make it difficult to determine which state the immigrant is to seek asylum in. France claims that it is not responsible for refugees traveling to the UK through Calais, the media outlet reported Thursday.
Hanson urged French officials to establish the status of those who are in Calais right now and take action.
The statistics come the same day as the opening of a new refugee camp in Calais, The Daily Mail reported. The Jules Ferry camp provides beds, showers, medical facilities and food and can handle as many as 2,500 immigrants at one time. The center will cost around $9 million to operate annually. Several Conservative Party members of parliament criticized French authorities, saying the center will make it easier for immigrants to sneak into the UK.
