Calais Crisis Shows Failure of EU Migration Policy - UK Labour Party

The Calais migrant crisis represents further evidence of the European Union's failure to pursue an effective migration policy, the chairman of the British Labour Party's Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) group told Sputnik on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Yulia Shamporova — Thousands of attempts have been made by migrants to enter the United Kingdom from the French port of Calais through the Channel Tunnel this week. Several people have died in the process.

“The events of this week are a sign of failure of European Governments to put in place a 'resettlement policy' for migrants, because we were all strangers once,” Kamaljeet Jandu said.

The Channel Tunnel is a 31.4-mile rail tunnel between Folkestone, Kent, in the United Kingdom and Coquelles, near Calais, in northern France. According to the French Interior Ministry, Calais currently houses some 3,000 migrants, mainly from North African countries.

Earlier in July, British authorities confirmed plans to build a new 1.2-mile fence, estimated at a cost of $11-million, around the Channel Tunnel site near Calais to deter undocumented migrants from attempting to enter the country.

Europe is experiencing a major migrant crisis as thousands of people flee conflict-torn countries in North Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia. According to UN data, 137,000 refugees crossed the Mediterranean Sea for Europe in the first six months of 2015.