What happens to failed asylum seekers?

Thousands of migrants are camped around Calais in northern France. Many will risk their lives smuggling themselves across the Channel into the UK

 At least nine people have died trying to access the Channel Tunnel since June. Scenes of people climbing over fences and scrambling on to the back of lorries show just how desperate some people are to get to the UK. Last week a man walked most of the tunnel before being caught.

Exactly how many have made into the UK is not yet clear. But for those that have, where will they end up?
Asylum

Some of those who manage to get through will remain hidden and stay as illegal workers. But many of the people waiting in Calais will be expecting to be found and then seek refugee status.

Once someone is in the UK, even if they entered it illegally, they have the right to claim asylum. There were 25,020 asylum applications in the UK in the 12 months up to March. Police who find asylum seekers will usually hand them over to immigration officials to submit their claim. Asylum seekers are entitled to stay in the UK while they wait for a decision.

But what happens if they have passed through a safe country on their way to the UK?

There is a general principle observed by many countries that asylum seekers who have passed through a safe third country where they could have claimed asylum can be sent back there in order to make their claim.

All of those waiting in Calais to cross the Channel fit into this category. They are in a safe country but few will have reached France without having crossed another EU border beforehand.

The EU has a specific rule about this to try to work out which country is responsible for handling an asylum claim.

BBC