- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Channeling More Money to Stop Calais Migrants on Route to Britain

© AFP 2023 / Denis CharletA EuroTunnel train coming out of the Channel Tunnel, owned by EuroTunnel, on in Coquelles, northern France.
A EuroTunnel train coming out of the Channel Tunnel, owned by EuroTunnel, on in Coquelles, northern France. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Fear that more migrants will attempt to illegally board trains in France on route to England has led to a cash injection from Britain to extend the tunnel.

UK border agency stops illegal migrants - Sputnik International
Number of Illegal Migrants Stopped at UK Border Reaches 100,000
Britain has already pledged US$10.8 million to pay for extra security fencing and surveillance cameras and now US $6.1 million is to be spent on encasing the most exposed area of the track near Calais.

It’s the first time in the tunnel’s 22 year history that it has been extended. The new development will mean the tunnel will stretch all the way into the Eurotunnel terminal where cars and lorries are loaded onto trains — an area previously sealed off by a fence. 

Around 3,000 refugees and asylum seekers living in the so-called 'Jungle Camp' near Calais face being evicted from their make shift tents to make way for bulldozers to clear a 100 meter security zone around the camp’s perimeter.

© REUTERS / Benoit TessierA French riot police officer (CRS) stands guard as migrants brush their teeth in a makeshift camp in what is known as the "Jungle", a squalid sprawling camp in Calais, northern France, January 11, 2016.
A French riot police officer (CRS) stands guard as migrants brush their teeth in a makeshift camp in what is known as the Jungle, a squalid sprawling camp in Calais, northern France, January 11, 2016. - Sputnik International
A French riot police officer (CRS) stands guard as migrants brush their teeth in a makeshift camp in what is known as the "Jungle", a squalid sprawling camp in Calais, northern France, January 11, 2016.

Temporary churches and mosques used by the refugees have already been demolished. Men, women and children – including 500 unaccompanied minors — have been left in no man’s land.

"Storage of Human Beings"

Tony Dyer, Green Party mayoral candidate for Bristol, the city where Banksy grew up, recently visited the refugee camp in Calais, where he discovered a "terrifying" new container camp to house refugees overnight.

"The scene is one of squalor and despair: muddy tracks, flimsy tents and wooden huts housing a mixture of people fleeing wars, genocide, religious extremism, absolute poverty," Dyer says.

In an article published on B24/7, Dyer describes the French police watching over no-man’s land from their vans, “occasionally firing a tear gas round into the camp seemingly out of boredom”.

Shipping containers now used to house the refugees in a new camp surrounded by a wire fence, within the existing camp.

"This is industrialized overnight storage of human beings."

Around 6,500 refugees and migrants are living in two makeshift camps in Calais and Dunkirk in conditions described by human rights groups as "atrocious".

Amnesty International (AI) is calling on the French and British authorities to allow migrants who have families in Britain to be reunited with them in the UK.

"Effectively abandoned by authorities on both sides of the Channel, they risk their lives trying to cross by jumping in the back of a lorry, walking through the Eurotunnel or even setting off from the coast in small boats," says AI.

© REUTERS / Juan Medina/FilesMigrants run after crossing a fence as they attempt to access the Channel Tunnel in Frethun, near Calais, France, August 4, 2015.
Migrants run after crossing a fence as they attempt to access the Channel Tunnel in Frethun, near Calais, France, August 4, 2015. - Sputnik International
Migrants run after crossing a fence as they attempt to access the Channel Tunnel in Frethun, near Calais, France, August 4, 2015.

Meanwhile Eurotunnel is claiming more than US$32 million in compensation from the French and British governments due to disruption to its services for passengers caused by migrants trying to leave the camp.

The US$6.1 million extension to the tunnel is being spent to calm fears that thousands more refugees will arrive in Calais this summer as the refugee crisis continues in Europe.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала