Immigration Laws: May, 2001 - Number #10

About half of the 120 security workers who guard the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel went on strike in mid-April, 2001, which led to an immediate uptick in the number of foreigners seeking asylum in the UK. A British freight company, English, Welsh and Scottish Railways, said that it may halt rail service through the Tunnel because of UK fines-the railway said it was fined L252,000 in one month after 126 migrants were found on its trains arriving from France.

According to press reports, there are 10,000 men with more than one wife in France, and they are thought to have a total of 130,000 wives and children. Many polygamists are from Mali, and in 1993, France enacted legislation making polygamy illegal. The French government is now requiring polygamists to split their families or risk losing their work permits.

Laurent Gbagbo, President of Cote d'Ivoire, in a TV interview said that Les Hommes En Noir (The Men In Black) or "Loubards" as they are known in Cote d'Ivoire, come to France for weight training, and then go to work. According to Gbagbo, this allows one person with a work permit to enable four to six others to work under the same name, as long as they are not in the same labor office area.

Benelux. Many European countries permit immigrants to unify their families without waiting in queues. To guard against fraud, countries are increasing their use of biometrics to identify relatives presented by resident immigrants for family unification.

The Netherlands is making routine use of biometrics to identify both citizens and foreigners. By 2003, all Dutch citizens with European Union (EU) identification cards will have unique biometric data stored in a chip. The government is testing the technology for foreigners required to report regularly to police.