But a British immigration officer spotted that his passport was new, implying that this was his first trip abroad, and refused to believe that someone on his salary would pay so much for eight days in the UK."I was informed that Gare du Nord Paris was being targeted, because it was wrongly perceived to be easier to gain entry to the UK by rail," Ms Coussey said. She concluded that three "seemed to be justifiable" but five were "more finely balanced".One Brazilian had arrived at Paris's international train station with a return ticket, a valid hotel booking, a printed itinerary, a guidebook in which he had highlighted all the places he wanted to see, $250 and €300 in cash, and evidence that he had a job in Brazil. As he was held up in Paris, his sponsors in the UK and in Germany phoned British immigration officers, offering to vouch for him, but he was still refused entry.Ms Coussey also reported that she had looked into a sample of eight individual cases of visitors from Brazil who were turned away. He was able to prove that he was employed and had a family in Malaysia.
He showed the immigration officers his return ticket, and gave them the details of people he would be staying with He was refused entry. Despite having apparently lied to officials, this youth was allowed in.The Malaysian was a tour operator who wanted to board a cross-channel train at Paris and spend four days in the UK on his way to Germany, where his girlfriend lived. A visitor from the US is at least 100 times more likely to be allowed in than someone from Brazil. A check proved that he was not registered.About four million Americans visit Britain every year, bringing in a vast amount of foreign currency. Then he claimed he was going to attend a four-month study programme at Cambridge University. The American student originally told immigration officials at Heathrow that he was meeting a friend from the US. Malaysians and Brazilians then became the main targets for suspicious immigration officer.Ms Coussey's report contrasted the treatment of two visitors, one from the US, the other from Malaysia.
More than 8,000 Poles were turned away in 2003, but they gained the right to seek work in the UK when Poland joined the EU last year. He later legally obtained permission to stay on as a student, but when that permission ran out he became what is officially termed an "overstayer".Britain's Immigration and Nationality Directorate is believed to have received a tip-off from North America that gangs of Brazilian people traffickers were switching their operations to the UK.But in the drive to keep out illegal workers, immigration officials may have turned away innocent sightseers. More than 4,000 were refused permission to enter Britain in 2003. According to a Home Office report, as many as 70 per cent who described themselves as students may have been turned away.But Mr de Menezes was already in the country before the clampdown began, having arrived in 2002 with permission to stay for three months.
