Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council is reported as saying
"Asylum seekers are people fleeing war zones and persecution. I think it's really important that people understand the difference between asylum seekers and economic migrants.
Some of the people in Calais are asylum seekers."

However many more are economic migrants and as such 'illegal' immigrants almost certainly victims of human people trafficking.

French police can detain an illegal immigrant only temporarily without a judicial order of expulsion to the country of origin.
But proving a country of origin is often impossible since migrants typically tear up their identity papers upon arrival in Europe.

What is more disturbing however is the treatment that this opertion has received from the right wing press which seems detirmined to play into the hands of the Islamophobia generated by organizatiuons like the BNP

Damian Thompson Blogs Editor of the Telegraph Media Group today commeneted
"How interesting that French police waited until the end of Ramadan before forcibly dismantling the Calais "jungle". That tells us something we really need to remember about a huge proportion of the illegal immigrants seeking to enter Britain: that they are pious Muslims."

Other newspapers however have reported that the reason the majority of these people, whether asylum seekers or economic migrants, wish so desperately to enter Britain is that because "they have family links with the UK, or the ability to integrate thanks to the communities of their compatriots"

For genuine asylum seekers -

Under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 asylum seekers and their dependants are NOT permitted to access the mainstream system of welfare benefits.

Asylum seekers and their dependants who need support to avoid destitution are given it by the UK Border Agency from the time they arrive in the UK until their claim is fully determined.
Support takes the form of subsistence, accommodation or both.
From 6 July 2009, levels of subsistence support will be per week £35.13 for a single asylum seeker aged 18 to 24 or £42.16 for a single asylum seeker aged over 25; £69.57 for an asylum seeker accompanied by a spouse or partner;

However -
On 5 November 2008 an article was published in The Independent, headed Britain closes door on 80,000 asylum-seekers. It begins:

Almost 80,000 asylum seekers from countries described by the Foreign Office as dangerous and unstable have been refused refuge in Britain in the past five years.

The Government was last night accused of double standards for registering alarm about 21 major countries of concern at the same time as refusing sanctuary to 77,000 of their citizens who fled persecution and bloodshed.
Refugees from turbulent nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Sudan are being turned down at the rate of nearly 40 a day.

According to the Independent Asylum Commission within the Home Office there is a culture of disbelief against asylum seekers

The Home Office Statistical Bulletin for 2007, published in August 2008 shows that of the 14,935 asylum appeals determined during the year, 23% were allowed and 72% dismissed.

Prejudice and ignorance skew public view of asylum-seekers

but, why stem the rising tide of xenophobia in the UK with a few facts?