The first bus carrying 50 migrants from the Sangatte asylum centre in northern France has arrived in England under the terms of a deal to shut the camp down.
The group is the first of 1,200 asylum seekers - 1,000 Iraqis and 200 Afghans- Britain has agreed to accept before the Sangatte centre closes on December30th.
They are to be allowed into the UK on four-year work visas, rather than asasylum claimants, and will be helped to find jobs.
On Monday, London and Paris resolved the three-year dispute by agreeing to close the Sangatte centre by the end of the year and Britain agreeing to take in 1,200 asylum seekers.
Their departure, originally scheduled for yesterday, was put back by 24 hours at the request of the British Home Office in order to complete reception arrangements.
With the Red Cross refugee centre in Sangatte closed to new arrivals, the two governments reached a deal whereby the applications of up to 4,800 asylum-seekers registered by the Red Cross should be processed.
AFP