1,000 refused entry to France

ABOUT 1,000 people have been turned away from the French frontier in the past fortnight, since border checks were restored, French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve has announced.

France reintroduced border controls on November 13, just a few hours before the Paris terror attacks, as a precautionary measure linked to the UN climate change summit in the French capital.

Since then "nearly 1,000 people have been stopped from entering the country because of the risk they could present to public order and our country's security", Cazeneuve said on an outing to Strasbourg where he visited a border checkpoint and opened the city's Christmas market under heightened security.

Some 15,000 police, gendarmes and customs officers have been patrolling 283 points of entry into France, by sea, air and land in recent weeks.

Cazeneuve said the border checks would stay in place "for as long as the terrorist threat remains". They had initially been planned until December 13.

The EU’s Schengen accord, which enables free movement within the Union, does allow for temporary restoration of border controls, something which France has already done in 1995, 2001 and 2013.