'Protection zone' plan ruled out

The Taoiseach has ruled out any Irish participation in a British plan to set up "protection zones" for asylum-seekers close to their countries of origin.

Mr Ahern said  the British plan, as it was currently conceived, would not help address the causes of illegal immigration and would do little to prevent it.

"The last thing you want is that before you deal with all the development aid issues, you start building army camps over in the borders of countries. That is not the image that you want to portray and it's not the position that we take," he said.

Britain and Denmark have said they would  go ahead with plans to set up the zones, probably in the Horn of Africa, despite the EU's refusal on Thursday to back them.  Denmark's Prime Minister, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said yesterday that both countries would start pilot projects aimed at creating safe areas for refugees close to areas of conflict.

"It would be perfectly natural that we,  as one of the countries supporting Britain,  also discuss with Britain how we do this in practice," he said.

Other member-states fear that, by setting up the camps, Britain and Denmark will divert refugees to other EU countries. The European Commission is reluctant to get involved because it fears that the projects could slow down the development of a common asylum and immigration policy.

Amnesty International has condemned the proposal as unlawful and unworkable but Britain insists that it will work closely with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

British officials maintain that their primary concern is to provide protection for refugees rather than  deter immigrants. The most enthusiastic supporters of the British proposal - Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands - have some of Europe's toughest policies on immigration.