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Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Migrant Crisis in Calais - France and Britain to Sign Deal Thursday Aug 20,2015

 
France and Britain are to sign a deal Thursday  Aug 20,2015 aimed at alleviating the migrant crisis in Calais, where thousands of people desperate to cross the Channel have gathered in slum-like conditions.

The northern French port has hit headlines as migrants make attempt after attempt to enter the Channel Tunnel to reach Britain, some paying for it with their lives.

Some 3,000 people from Africa, the Middle East and Asia are camped in Calais attempting to get to Britain, where many already have family and work is perceived as easier to find, by any means necessary.

At least 10 people have been killed since June trying to make the crossing.

While France and Britain have tried to present a united front in tackling the crisis, the issue has strained ties between the two.

Politicians in Britain have accused France of security failings, while London has been slammed by Paris for making it too easy for migrants to work illegally, thus luring them to its shores.

The accord, which will be signed in Calais by France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and his British counterpart Theresa May, will focus on securing the area.

As part of the deal, the Home Office said Thursday that British police officers will be deployed to Calais to combat gangs smuggling the migrants across the Channel.

Led by one British and one French senior commander, they will work alongside their French counterparts in a "Command and Control Centre", the ministry said ahead of May's visit to the ferry port.

The deal includes extra French policing units, additional freight searches, and making the railhead in Calais more secure through fencing, security cameras, flood lighting and infrared detection technology.

It will also provide a boost to humanitarian assistance for the migrants in a bid to ease the desperate conditions in Calais.

'More fencing, more resources, more dogs'

 


Keith Vaz, who chairs a parliamentary body scrutinising the work of May's ministry, welcomed the agreement but warned there was already evidence of greater "illegal activity" at other Channel ports in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

"Closing off one route will only mean the problem moves to another port," he said.

"We need agreements with countries across the north coast to stop this situation developing before we see Calais-like crises spring up at ports across the continent."

Britain has pledged £22 million (31 million euros, $34 million) so far towards improving security at the French end of the Channel Tunnel.

And Prime Minister David Cameron promised "more fencing, more resources, more sniffer dog teams" to aid French police in their nightly efforts to prevent the migrants getting through.

Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel said earlier this week that the number of migrants trying to break into the undersea rail link in Calais had fallen to around 150 a night, down from a high of 2,000 at the end of July 2015

French Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve (L) and Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May (C) review British and French police officers, on August 20, 2015 in Calais, during a ceremony marking the deployment of British police officers to the French port of Calais to combat gangs smuggling migrants across the Channel

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