On the eve of the local elections, as thousands of North Africans hope for entry into Britain, immigration has become an issue again.

Political revolutions in Tunisia and Libya have led more than 25,000 people to seek refuge in Italy and France or, failing that, the UK.

Although France and Italy are both signatories of the 1995 Schengen Convention, which eliminates the need for passports and visas across EU borders, this ruling is supposed to apply only to citizens of the 25 EU members which signed up to it.

Ireland and the UK did not. Yet some of the people camped outside the Gard du Nord Eurostar terminal in Paris, interviewed by national newspapers, clearly expect to be allowed entry to the UK as refugees. And if they come here, without papers, there is little or nothing that can be done to deport them.

The Governments of Italy and France want the EU to amend Schengen – seemingly, the open borders policy no longer suits them. However this turns out, the likelihood is that desperate people hoping to secure a future will find a way of coming to the UK and possibly to Bradford, where the cost of living is relatively cheap.

There is something else too. Bradford’s reputation for welcoming refugees from disparate parts of the world. Since 2008, Bradford has been a City of Sanctuary for refugees and asylum seekers; these include people from Zimbabwe, the democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Burma, and Afghanistan.

Council leader Ian Greenwood said this was a principle adopted by Bradford to ensure that people fleeing from persecution were treated fairly. It was not a policy to encourage people to come here.

So how many refugees and asylum seekers are here? Ian Bairstow is Bradford Council’s strategic director for the environment and sport. He said: “There are approximately 300 asylum seekers resident in the district across 150 households.

“There are also approximately 200 individuals in the district who are refugees admitted under the Gateway programme, which has now ended. The 43 families admitted under the scheme originate principally from the Rohingya community in Myanmar, Burma.

“The Gateway Protection Programme was launched in April 2003, creating a legal pathway for refugees to enter the UK. The programme was introduced in partnership with the UN Commission for Refugees and the Home Office and established the Gateway Protection programme to assist the most vulnerable refugees to escape persecution.”

The cost of the programme, in excess of £2,063,000, reportedly came out of Government budgets.

“On the subject of general refugees, I can confirm that the Council does not have any record of the number living in the district, as once refugees have been given leave to remain in the UK, they become part of the district’s resident population,” Mr Bairstow added.

As anyone familiar with central Bradford can confirm, the city has stood by its statutory obligations as far as EU citizens are concerned, principally Poles and others from former eastern Europe; even though the UK is not a Schengen signatory, the free movement of citizens is part of the original Treaty of Rome that Britain signed up to 40 years ago.

On the broader subject of refugees, Shipley Conservative MP Philip Davies said that under international agreements, people seeking asylum could not be passed on by Italy and France – in theory, at least.

“Anyone seeking asylum must claim it in the first country of safety they come to. But this has absolutely not been adhered to. Britain will always be a desirable destination for asylum seekers and refugees.

“People think it’s because of the benefits system. That may be part of it, but I think it’s the language. Most of them speak English, so they come here.

“The other issue is we have no proper border controls in place. That’s why the Conservative Party have said we want to set up a border police force.”

Although Bradford is a welcoming, open-hearted place, could the district cope with an influx of people from war-torn North African countries?

According to Bradford Council’s District Economic Strategy, published in January this year, Bradford’s population of just over 506,000 is expected to mushroom to 640,000 by the year 2033, a rise of 139,000. The demand for housing, schools and welfare services is only going one way – upwards.