A MAN with British and French nationality, seized by French immigration officials in Britain and taken to a military barracks in France amid allegations that he had tried to avoid French military service, was freed yesterday. The British Foreign Office, announcing this, described the Eurotunnel worker as British.
Mr Henry Tuson (23), who has a French mother and was born in Dunkirk, was escorted to France on Tuesday from the English Channel tunnel terminal near Folkestone in what his MP described as an "outrageous kidnap" and "an international incident".
Mr Tuson, of Herne Bay, was declared unfit for military service yesterday. He was "never under arrest, he was merely being made to fulfil the requirements of military service by joining the army," France's London embassy said.
Mr Tuson works as a technical translator for Eurotunnel and visits France up to three times each week. He lived in France for three months before his parents moved to England.
The enibassy insisted the immigration officials had acted entirely legally. "Mr Tuson was born in France to a French mother. Under French law that makes him a French citizen and therefore eligible for National Service," a spokesman said before his release. But Mr Tuson's father, John, who is British, said: "As far as Henry is concerned he's English - and proud of it."
Under the 1987 Channel Tunnel Treaty, the French and British have jurisdiction over small areas at Folkestone and Calais.