LONDON, Feb 22 (AFP)  Britain's interior minister Jack Straw said on Thursday he had
 telephoned his French counterpart to make sure that a large group of Kurds washed ashore on
 the French coast did not seek asylum in Britain.

 He said that if the refugees did turn up on British shores, the government would exercise its right
 to deport them back to France.

 Straw made the call to French Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant after the 911 refugees, who were
 rescued last week from their stricken vessel, were released from a holding camp in the south of
 France.

 Some were quoted as saying they would apply for asylum in Britain, despite European Union
 rules which state that refugees should apply in the first safe country they arrive in.

 "I put it to him that under the Dublin Convention, as France was the first EU country which these
 people entered then France has the obligation to deal with any asylum applications," said
 Straw, who is Britain's home secretary.

 "Any other EU country which they entered would have the right to return the applicants to
 France without having to substantively consider the applications they might make in that
 country."

 Straw said that Vaillant had accepted that point. He added that there was no firm evidence that
 the refugees were planning to head for Britain.

 "I questioned him at some length about this," said the British minister. "In the end, it's a matter
 for speculation."

 With an election looming in Britain, immigration is a sensitive issue. The opposition Conservative
 Party is making political capital out of fears that Britain is a soft touch for asylum seekers.

 The right-wing tabloid The Sun said on Thursday that the Iraqi Kurds should not be allowed into
 Britain. The "cynical" decision to release the refugees "leaves us breathless," the newspaper
 said in an editorial.

 "The actions of the French are a disgrace," it went on. "These illegal immigrants are not being
 sent home, they are not even being monitored, and they are all heading for Britain."

 The Kurdish immigrants number 911, of whom 480 are children. The ship in which they were
 being smuggled into Europe was deliberately driven onto rocks on the French Riviera by its
 crew.

 After surviving on board for several days in conditions they described as "hellish," they were
 lifted off and taken ashore.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com