Juxtaposed controls

Juxtaposed controls (in French: bureaux à contrôles nationaux juxtaposés, or "BCNJ") refer to an arrangement between Belgium, France and the United Kingdom whereby immigration checks on certain cross-Channel routes take place before boarding the train or ferry, rather than upon arrival after disembarkation. With the exception of the Eurotunnel route, customs checks remain unaffected by juxtaposed immigration controls and continue to take place upon arrival after disembarkation.

Rail

Eurotunnel

In 1991, the Sangatte Protocol was signed between France and the UK, an agreement that provided for border checkpoints to be set up by France at Cheriton in Kent and for border checkpoints to be set up by the UK at Coquelles in France. The Protocol was brought into effect by the Channel Tunnel (International Arrangements) Order 1993.

As a result of the agreement, starting from 1994, when travelling from the UK to France by Eurotunnel (road vehicle trains), French immigration and customs checks both take place before departure from Cheriton, rather than on arrival in France. When travelling from France to the UK by Eurotunnel, travellers have to clear both French exit checks and UK immigration and customs checks in Coquelles before boarding the train.

Unlike the juxtaposed controls for the Eurostar and ferry which only consist of immigration pre-embarkation checks, juxtaposed controls for the Eurotunnel consist of both immigration and customs pre-embarkation checks.

In 2002-2003, at the UK immigration checkpoint at Coquelles in France, 2232 people were refused entry into the UK.

Eurostar

On 29 May 2000, the 'Additional Protocol to the Sangatte Protocol' was signed between France and the UK, an agreement that provided for immigration checkpoints to be set up by France in Eurostar stations in the UK and for immigration checkpoints to be set up by the UK in Eurostar stations in France. The UK was particularly keen to conclude the agreement with France because, for several years, many Eurostar passengers arrived in the UK without adequate documentation and a significant number claimed asylum on arrival. As an illustration, in the second half of 2000, around 4000 passengers arrived in London Waterloo station without the correct documentation. Also, under French law, there was no liability for SNCF, the French railway company, to check the travel documents of Eurostar passengers (in fact, it was illegal under French law for SNCF to carry out documentation checks), which meant that the Eurostar was an easier way for illegal immigrants to travel from France to the UK than other means of transport (for example, in contrast, an airline carrier would be fined a £2,000 penalty for every passenger without adequate documentation who is brought to the UK, which encouraged airlines to check the travel documents of passengers more carefully).

In July 2004, after a tripartite agreement was signed by Belgium, France and the UK, UK pre-embarkation immigration checkpoints were also established at Brussels Midi station.

As a result of the agreements, when travelling from the UK to Belgium or France by Eurostar, immigration entry checks into the Schengen Area take place before boarding the train in the UK, rather than on arrival in Belgium or France. The immigration entry checks are carried out in the UK stations before embarkation by the French Border Police (which also carries out immigration entry checks on behalf of the Belgian Federal Police for passengers travelling to Belgium). When travelling from Belgium or France to the UK by Eurostar, passengers clear immigration exit checks from the Schengen Area as well as UK immigration entry checks before boarding the train.

Customs checks on Eurostar passengers remain unaffected by the agreements and continue to take place upon arrival after leaving the train.

Between 2002 and 2003, 2442 passengers were refused entry into the UK at the UK immigration checkpoints in Paris Gare du Nord and Lille Europe stations on the basis that they had inadequate documentation. At Gare de Calais-Fréthun, 56 passengers were refused entry into the UK at the UK immigration checkpoint there.

There are some Eurostar trains going south of Paris. Southbound trains have checks in the UK just like the Paris-bound trains. For the northbound trains all passengers have to get off with their luggage in Lille, go through passport and security check and go on board again.

List of rail border controls

In Belgium

• Brussel-Zuid/Bruxelles-Midi

In France

• Avignon-Centre
• Coquelles
• Chessy-Marne-la-Vallée
• Fréthun
• Lille-Europe
• Paris-Nord

In the UK

• Ashford International
• Cheriton
• Ebbsfleet International
• St-Pancras International

Ferry

On 4 February 2003, France and the UK concluded the 'Treaty of Le Touquet' (formally known as the 'Treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the French Republic concerning the implementation of frontier controls at sea ports of both countries on the Channel and North Sea'), an agreement that provided for juxtaposed controls on a number of cross-Channel ferry routes. The Treaty was subsequently put into effect in the UK by the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Juxtaposed Controls) Order 2003, under the authority of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

France has established immigration checkpoints at Port of Dover, where the French Border Police carries out immigration entry checks into the Schengen Area on passengers travelling to Calais or Dunkirk.

At present, the UK has immigration checkpoints at the ports of Calais and Dunkirk (previously, the UK also had an immigration checkpoint at the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer). At Calais and Dunkirk, passengers go through French exit checks as well as UK immigration entry checks before embarkation.

Customs checks on ferry passengers remain unaffected by the Treaty and continue to take place upon arrival after leaving the ferry. Therefore, when travelling from France to Dover, although ferry passengers have already gone through immigration checks before departure, when they arrive in the UK, they might still be stopped by customs officers for a customs inspection. Similarly, when travelling from Dover to France, although ferry passengers have already been through immigration checks by the French Border Police at Dover, they might still be subject to a customs check by French Customs on arrival in France.

Between 2003 and 2007, 10,766 people were refused entry into the UK by UK immigration officers stationed in Calais.

A Joint Operational Coordination Centre has been created at the port of Calais to strengthen co-operation between the UK Border Force, French Border Police and French Customs.

Air

Both British law and the Schengen convention require airlines to perform checks before boarding, that passengers have the right to enter the destination country.

Gallery

• 

  Entry stamp into the Schengen Area issued by the French Border Police at St Pancras International station. ('LFT' stands for 'Liaison fixe transmanche' (literally: cross-Channel fixed link)

• 

  Exit stamp from the Schengen Area issued by the French Border Police at Paris Gare du Nord station. ('LFT' stands for 'Liaison fixe transmanche' (literally: cross-Channel fixed link)

• 

  UK entry stamp issued by the UK Border Force at Paris Gare du Nord station.

See also

• Schengen Area (The Schengen convention article 26 says, that carriers which transport people into the Schengen area shall pay the cost to return people without entry permission and penalties. This means that airlines will do immigration checks before boarding)
• List of border crossing points in France
• UK Border Force
• United States border preclearance (a similar arrangement whereby the US carries out pre-embarkation immigration checks at some airports and border crossing points in Canada, the Caribbean, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates)
• Shenzhen Bay Control Point (a similar arrangement whereby Hong Kong carries out immigration checks at the border crossing point geographically in China, but the area is designated as if it is part of Hong Kong and Hong Kong law fully applies)

References

• Ryan, Bernard. Extraterritorial Immigration Control: Legal Challenges. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2010, p. 16-19