The thousands of migrants at Calais seeking to breach Channel Tunnel and port security to reach Britain was a crisis waiting to happen and could get even worse, it is claimed.
The biggest pull factor to the UK for migrants is not benefits but the perception that they can work illegally, says MP Keith Vaz. “And that is why we have to deal with this on an EU basis; the fact is if we don’t, the crisis is going to get even worse.”
Vaz, the chairman of the House of Commons home affairs committee, was speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme on July 31. While security measures at Calais were welcome, he said, it’s too late when the migrants get to Calais: “They have only one ambition; they just want to get to Britain and they will try, try and try again until they arrive. This is an EU problem; the criminal gangs that have brought them from Libya into Italy. They want to use France and Italy as a transition country, to get to the UK. This is organised criminality, it’s worth billions of euros.”
He called for the French authorities, once they discover migrants who are illegally in Calais to be deported, ‘not released back into the countryside’. He added that the home affairs committee had been warning since March – when the committee heard from the mayor of Calais – that this was a ‘crisis waiting to happen’. For a report by the home affairs committee on Calais and the Government’s response visit parliament.uk.
Keith Vaz welcomed Prime Minister David Cameron chairing the COBR emergency committee; but added that it could only be resolved by a meeting between Cameron, French president Francois Hollande and the EU, stressing that the problem was Europe-wide, due to the migration from Libya.
Migrants reaching Kent
Also interviewed by the Today programme, Peter Oakford, Kent County Council cabinet member for specialist children’s services, said that 100 migrants came to the county from Calais in June; and 200 in July. “Up until yesterday we were being told it’s Kent problem, get on and deal with it,” On July 30 however he met with the permanent secretary of the Home Office, and agreed on ways forward, that Oakford called a first ‘strategic conversation’ with Government looking at the entire problem.
FO advice
The Foreign Office warns travellers of ‘large numbers of illegal migrants in and around Calais, who may seek to enter the UK illegally. You should keep vehicle doors locked in slow moving traffic and secure your vehicle when it is left unattended.’ Visit https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france.
David Cameron on teh evening of Friday, July 31 spoke with President Hollande about the situation in Calais; and that morning chaired a meeting of COBR.
Eurotunnel view
The continuous pressure exerted every night is beyond reasonable handling and requires a constructive and appropriate response from the governments, says the Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel.
Since the arrival of migrants around Calais, Eurotunnel has, beyond its contractual obligations, spent more than 160 million euros on physical (fences, lighting, cameras, infra-red detectors) and human resources to protect the terminal in Coquelles: including 13 million euros in the first six months of 2015.
Eurotunnel says that since January 1 it has, using its own resources, intercepted more than 37,000 migrants to French police; which has not led to any court action. (While several thousand migrants are estimated to be around Calais, that suggests a routine of migrants trying to breach the Tunnel security at night, being apprehended by security patrollers, handed to police and let go, to try again.)
Eurotunnel makes the point that the founding texts relating to the establishment of the Channel Tunnel Fixed Link (the Treaty of Canterbury and the Concession Agreement), require the two states, beyond their national responsibilities, to enable the concession holder to conduct its transport activity securely.
On Thursday, July 30, Eurotunnel said that it welcomed the decision by Bernard Cazeneuve, Minister for the Interior, to reinforce the French Police forces on the terminal in Coquelles, which has enabled a reduction in the number of intrusions, in risk to migrants and which ensures a service which is close to normal for transporters.
A high level technical meeting was on July 30 between the Group and senior experts at the Interior Ministry. The practical recommendations generated by their experience and expertise to maintain both public safety and the fluidity of the railway terminal will be put into action rapidly, the Tunnel operator added.
The security fencing around the platforms installed by Eurotunnel became operational on July 30. The fence supplied by the British government will be completed in the coming days.
Finally, measures have been taken for truck traffic: night services will from now on be provided on protected shuttles and from the platforms in the centre of the terminal. Passengers who are travelling through the Coquelles terminal can travel in confidence. They have been transported without delay throughout the day, a peak holiday getaway period, and have had the best welcome and customer service possible during their journey, says Eurotunnel.
Truck traffic in Kent remains affected by Operation Stack.
Earlier this month the Government said that, working with the French authorities, it will create a new ‘secure zone’ at the port of Calais for UK-bound lorries; and will spend on security at the port, Eurotunnel at Coquelles, and the port of Dunkirk, against displaced migrants seeking to enter the UK across the Channel.
See also Professional Security magazine regular contributor Jim Gannon in the August 2015 print issue. Photo by Mark Rowe: Calais town hall.
