London: The Calais crisis intensified last night after a day of astonishing scenes on both sides of the Channel triggered by the chaos at the French port.
In France, police fought running battles with migrants trying to storm into the Eurotunnel terminal. At one point, a mother and her young son clutching a teddy bear were seen crawling through a security fence.
It came as David Cameron was attacked by Labour for saying the UK was not a ‘safe haven’ for a ‘swarm’ of illegal immigrants.
In England, police rounded up suspected migrants on the M20 after they made it to the other side of the Tunnel. One even risked his life by stowing away under a horsebox for two hours.
Last night, 200 migrants tried to storm the Tunnel. Shortly after a shuttle train from the UK pulled in, they rushed at the point where cars leaving the Tunnel join the main road.
British holidaymakers had to swerve to avoid the crowd of migrants in the road, but a handful made it through before riot police formed a cordon. On another day of drama:
Eurotunnel dramatically scaled back its overnight freight service to reduce the opportunities for stowaways – a move which will have major implications for the UK economy, which is already losing £250million a day because of the chaos;
Social services said it was struggling to cope with a surge in the number of children claiming asylum. The two sides of the shambles were neatly summed up in one picture yesterday.
On one side of the M20 motorway, lorries bound for Europe queue for as far as the eye can see. On the other, 12 suspected illegal immigrants are detained by police after making it to Britain.
Migrants make their way across a fence near near train tracks as they attempt to access the Channel Tunnel in Frethun, near Calais, France, July 29, 2015. A migrant died trying to cross to Britain from France early on Wednesday, French police said, adding to a number of recent deaths in the Channel Tunnel as British ministers and security chiefs were to meet over the crisis in Calais. There were about 1,500 attempts by migrants to access the tunnel on Tuesday night, a Eurotunnel spokesman said, after 2,000 attempts the previous night.
The image underlined what a disgraceful farce Calais has become since a perfect storm of striking French workers and migrant activity created mayhem in the port. It was also proof that migrants are still getting to the UK, despite crunch talks with the French government and beefed-up security at the border.
Last night, Calais was braced for a fourth night of mayhem after migrants began to mass outside fencing at the Channel Tunnel freight terminal.
There have been about 4,000 attempts by migrants to enter the Tunnel in the past three days and one was killed after hundreds stormed the barriers on Tuesday night.
It was reported last night the Armed Forces were preparing to get involved in the crisis. The Daily Telegraph said military planners were considering moving miles of stationary lorries from the M20 and park them at Ministry of Defence sites, to get traffic in Kent flowing again.
The Ministry of Defence has been asked by the Home Office and Department for Transport to identify military-owned land around Folkestone that is free and capable of accommodating hundreds of lorries.
Eurotunnel revealed that since the beginning of the year, it has blocked 37,000 migrants trying to make their way to Britain. But images yesterday proved that migrants are successful.
At least 150 have crossed the Channel this week by breaching security fences and stowing away on Folkestone-bound trains.
The 12 suspected illegal immigrants arrested by Kent Police yesterday were found in the back of a Slovenian-registered lorry which was pulled over outside Ashford – just 15 miles from Folkestone.
Just hours later, two other men - believed to be from Iran - were found stashed in the back of a lorry as it was stopped on a busy road in the Kent town.
It came as police warned they were struggling to cope with the number of illegal immigrants who are fleeing lorries at motorway service stations.
Kevin Hurley, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, revealed that 156 suspected illegal immigrants had been detained at one M25 service station alone in the past three months – but scores more had escaped before police could hold them.
In West Sussex on Tuesday, a 26-year-old Sudanese stowaway was found under a horsebox at a prestigious horse show trials whose patron is the Queen.
The man, who risked his life clinging on to an axle for the two-hour journey, was arrested as horses arrived for the Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead.
And the head of Kent County Council warned that social services were struggling to cope with an increase in the number of young immigrants claiming asylum.
Paul Carter said the number in the authority’s care – after arriving alone at Dover – had almost doubled to 605 in the past three months, leaving it with a multi-million-pound funding gap.
MPs and hauliers have called for the Army to be brought in to restore order, while Ukip leader Nigel Farage said there was a ‘very real possibility’ that the Channel Tunnel could temporarily close if the French authorities failed to act further.
Speaking in Vietnam yesterday 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.
'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.'
(Daily Mail)
In France, police fought running battles with migrants trying to storm into the Eurotunnel terminal. At one point, a mother and her young son clutching a teddy bear were seen crawling through a security fence.
It came as David Cameron was attacked by Labour for saying the UK was not a ‘safe haven’ for a ‘swarm’ of illegal immigrants.
In England, police rounded up suspected migrants on the M20 after they made it to the other side of the Tunnel. One even risked his life by stowing away under a horsebox for two hours.
Last night, 200 migrants tried to storm the Tunnel. Shortly after a shuttle train from the UK pulled in, they rushed at the point where cars leaving the Tunnel join the main road.
British holidaymakers had to swerve to avoid the crowd of migrants in the road, but a handful made it through before riot police formed a cordon. On another day of drama:
Eurotunnel dramatically scaled back its overnight freight service to reduce the opportunities for stowaways – a move which will have major implications for the UK economy, which is already losing £250million a day because of the chaos;
Social services said it was struggling to cope with a surge in the number of children claiming asylum. The two sides of the shambles were neatly summed up in one picture yesterday.
On one side of the M20 motorway, lorries bound for Europe queue for as far as the eye can see. On the other, 12 suspected illegal immigrants are detained by police after making it to Britain.
Migrants make their way across a fence near near train tracks as they attempt to access the Channel Tunnel in Frethun, near Calais, France, July 29, 2015. A migrant died trying to cross to Britain from France early on Wednesday, French police said, adding to a number of recent deaths in the Channel Tunnel as British ministers and security chiefs were to meet over the crisis in Calais. There were about 1,500 attempts by migrants to access the tunnel on Tuesday night, a Eurotunnel spokesman said, after 2,000 attempts the previous night.
The image underlined what a disgraceful farce Calais has become since a perfect storm of striking French workers and migrant activity created mayhem in the port. It was also proof that migrants are still getting to the UK, despite crunch talks with the French government and beefed-up security at the border.
Last night, Calais was braced for a fourth night of mayhem after migrants began to mass outside fencing at the Channel Tunnel freight terminal.
There have been about 4,000 attempts by migrants to enter the Tunnel in the past three days and one was killed after hundreds stormed the barriers on Tuesday night.
It was reported last night the Armed Forces were preparing to get involved in the crisis. The Daily Telegraph said military planners were considering moving miles of stationary lorries from the M20 and park them at Ministry of Defence sites, to get traffic in Kent flowing again.
The Ministry of Defence has been asked by the Home Office and Department for Transport to identify military-owned land around Folkestone that is free and capable of accommodating hundreds of lorries.
Eurotunnel revealed that since the beginning of the year, it has blocked 37,000 migrants trying to make their way to Britain. But images yesterday proved that migrants are successful.
At least 150 have crossed the Channel this week by breaching security fences and stowing away on Folkestone-bound trains.
The 12 suspected illegal immigrants arrested by Kent Police yesterday were found in the back of a Slovenian-registered lorry which was pulled over outside Ashford – just 15 miles from Folkestone.
Just hours later, two other men - believed to be from Iran - were found stashed in the back of a lorry as it was stopped on a busy road in the Kent town.
It came as police warned they were struggling to cope with the number of illegal immigrants who are fleeing lorries at motorway service stations.
Kevin Hurley, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, revealed that 156 suspected illegal immigrants had been detained at one M25 service station alone in the past three months – but scores more had escaped before police could hold them.
In West Sussex on Tuesday, a 26-year-old Sudanese stowaway was found under a horsebox at a prestigious horse show trials whose patron is the Queen.
The man, who risked his life clinging on to an axle for the two-hour journey, was arrested as horses arrived for the Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead.
And the head of Kent County Council warned that social services were struggling to cope with an increase in the number of young immigrants claiming asylum.
Paul Carter said the number in the authority’s care – after arriving alone at Dover – had almost doubled to 605 in the past three months, leaving it with a multi-million-pound funding gap.
MPs and hauliers have called for the Army to be brought in to restore order, while Ukip leader Nigel Farage said there was a ‘very real possibility’ that the Channel Tunnel could temporarily close if the French authorities failed to act further.
Speaking in Vietnam yesterday 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.
'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.'
(Daily Mail)
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