Thursday 30 July 2015

French police are over-run as migrants storm Channel Tunnel declaring 'it's the UK or death'

David Cameron was today accused of losing control of the Calais crisis and leaving it to the French as panicked Gendarmerie were again overwhelmed by hundreds of desperate migrants who laid siege to the Channel Tunnel for the third night running.
Around 4,000 people have stormed fences and desperately tried to clamber on trains bound for Kent in the past three days - a deadly gamble that has allowed at least 150 to get to Britain but also claimed the lives of nine people........


Migrants have said that watching their friends die will not stop them trying to get to the UK with one saying: 'It's England or death'.
Today French police said an Egyptian man is in a critical condition after being electrocuted when he tried to climb on to the roof of a Eurostar train in Paris, suggesting migrants may be now trying to get through the tunnel away from Calais.

Last night migrants were still easily breaching the 15 mile fence surrounding the Channel Tunnel as senior MPs, backed by hauliers, demanded the British Army should be sent in to restore order because the French authorities had 'lost control'.

David Cameron today blamed the crisis at Calais on the 'swarm of people' crossing the Mediterranean but Harriet Harman accused him of trying to whip people up against the migrants saying: 'He should remember he is talking about people, not insects'.

The deepening crisis has led to 120 French riot police being called up to help the 250 uniformed officers already there but critics say that this is nowhere near enough and believe David Cameron must now send British troops.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said diplomacy with the French government 'isn't working' and added: 'Still not enough is being done to stop a difficult situation becoming desperate'.

Speaking in Vietnam this morning the Prime Minister vowed to do 'everything we can' to stop people's holidays been disrupted by the chaos, adding: 'This is very testing, I accept that, because you have got a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain because Britain has got jobs, it's got a growing economy, it's an incredible place to live.
The Prime Minister vowed to do 'everything we can' to stop people's holidays been disrupted by the chaos, adding: 'This is very testing, I accept that, because you have got a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain because Britain has got jobs, it's got a growing economy, it's an incredible place to live.

'But we need to protect our borders by working hand in glove with our neighbours the French and that is exactly what we are doing.'
The Channel Tunnel might need to be closed permanently to stop migrants reaching Britain from Calais, Nigel Farage has suggested.

The Ukip leader said 'it is always possible isn't it' when asked if closing the link between Britain and France, either temporarily or permanently, was a possible solution to the crisis.
He also said he would 'not use language like that' after Mr Cameron described the migrants as a 'swarm' and condemned the Prime Minister's 'warm words'.
He told MailOnline: 'I am so used to everything being too little, too late from him. I need to see how we are going to stop 150 estimated illegal immigrants coming in every single night.
'And how is he going to change the process where only one in four of those who are caught are ever sent back?

'In five years of Tory government, none of this has improved. Words are fine but what is he actually going to do?'
'The Prime Minister is this morning trying to sound tough, whether he means it or not is another question.'

Earlier Mr Farage said on Good Morning Britain : 'A couple of times I've been stuck on the motorway surrounded by swarms of potential migrants to Britain'
On BBC Radio 4, asked about Cameron describing migrants as a 'swarm', Farage said: 'I'm not seeking to use language like that.'

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the Prime Minister's attempts at diplomacy with the French government 'isn't working'.
She added: 'Still not enough is being done to stop a difficult situation becoming desperate.
'We need far more action from the French Government to assess people arriving in France, to prevent people reaching Calais in the first place and to police the roads where lorries are targets.

'And that means British ministers need to be putting on maximum diplomatic pressure and working closely to get the response from France and other European countries'.
Last night a gang of around 800 to 1,000 migrants stormed the Tunnel perimeter - taking the total to almost 4,000 who got on to the tracks since Monday night - and at least 150 are known to have made it to Britain.

Authorities were only able to arrest around 300 present at the site overnight, and many are simply just returned to their camp outside Calais.
Meanwhile there is mayhem on the British side of the Channel with thousands of lorries backed up in Kent queuing in Operation Stack. For 24 of the past 40 days, the coast-bound side of the M20 has been closed bringing misery to residents, businesses and holidaymakers.

As he faces major criticism of his handling of the crisis, speaking in Vietnam the Prime Minister said he was working to improve border security as well as deporting more illegal immigrants who manage to cross the Channel.

He said: 'This is very testing, I accept that. You have got a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain because Britain has got jobs, it's got a growing economy, it's an incredible place to live.
'But we need to protect our borders by working hand in glove with our neighbours the French and that is exactly what we are doing.'
It comes as one migrant - a Sudanese man in his 20s or early 30s - slipped as he tried to get underneath a train inside the high-security zone surrounding the undersea link in the early hours of yesterday morning when 1,500 attempted to get across.
On Monday night, more than 2,000 illegal immigrants tried to break through the Tunnel entrance, prompting an urgent security review which saw more than 120 police officers drafted in to secure the terminals.

Yesterday, Home Secretary Theresa May admitted for the first time that illegal migrants were getting into Britain.
Calais migrants are willing to risk their lives every day to get to Britain by jumping on to high speed trains rushing into the Channel Tunnel.
Around 5,000 are living in desperate conditions in the 'New Jungle' camp outside the French town and one admitted yesterday: 'It's England of death for me' as MailOnline can reveal in detail the route they take to the Tunnel.
Each night migrants walk, hitchhike and even cycle from their camps in Calais to the port, or to the Tunnel entrance, where they try to board lorries on trains.
First large groups, outnumbering the police, sprint past police to try to avoid being detained.
They then either climb through holes in flimsy fencing or used old clothes tied together to form a makeshift rope and climb over. Police tend to guard gates around the perimeter rather than along the fence.
Onlookers say the groups who get through then scatter widely across the railway tracks, some heading towards the tunnel entrance and others towards the Eurotunnel terminal.
Those who stay near the tunnel entrance will then wait for either Eurostar or Le Shuttle trains to slow down or stop to enter the tunnel. They then either fling themselves on to the side as they pass or climb on as it slows down.
At the Eurotunnel terminal gangs will target lorries queuing to be loaded on to trains.
A witness told MailOnline the migrants go from vehicle to vehicle trying the back doors or trying to climb under them to see if they can cling on under it.
Police will sometimes pull them away but rarely remove them from the area completely, meaning they can then try again.
Once on board a train the migrants either jump off as the train enters Britain and try to flee or in other cases wait to be arrested in Folkestone so they can try to claim asylum.
DailyMail

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