Calais deputy mayor turns up the heat on David Cameron over migrants

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/25/calais-deputy-mayor-migrant-crisis-david-cameron

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Politicians in Calais have accused the British government of being “blind and hypocritical” in its approach to migration, and urged David Cameron to hold an emergency summit with France and Italy in the city.

Philippe Mignonet, the deputy mayor of Calais, said the city had been “sacrificed” by the British and Europe after a week that saw chaotic scenes at its port, as hundreds of migrants attempted to take advantage of strikes by French ferry workers around the Channel tunnel to attempt to board lorries bound for the UK.

As the British government held an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss how to bolster border security in Calais, and the prime minister travelled to Brussels to debate the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, the city gave its most strongly worded attack on government policies since the crisis began.

Mignonet urged Cameron to visit for talks in an attempt to resolve the growing migrant problem in the city. Addressing the prime minister directly, he said: “Not considering our request is worse than ever because, Mr Cameron, you are making anglophobia grow in Calais and you will have more and more critics about your policy. [You] give now the impression of being blind and hypocritical.”

Related: Calais migrants: 'we have to keep trying because this is no place to stay'

Ministers are already considering sending more resources to Calais, including extra border officials and sniffer dog teams, as well as strengthening fences around port and rail crossings.

On Wednesday, Cameron described the scenes in Calais as “totally unacceptable” and moved to calm tensions with the French by promising to work more closely with them and calling for an end to finger-pointing over who would be to blame. However, Mignonet argued that the UK was not accepting responsibility for its share of the crisis.

He asked: “Is that because it is too easy being on an island to say it is your problem? Is that because of a lack of courage? There is a growing anglophobia in Calais because we are disregarded.”

Police have reopened a motorway in Kent that was shut for 36 hours to ease congestion. The Channel tunnel closed because of the strike action on Tuesday, leading to long delays and disruption for travellers and lorry drivers.

Don Armour, the Freight Transport Association’s international manager, said closures were now a frequent occurrence, and the strike had merely exacerbated intolerable pressure already faced by drivers crossing through Calais.

He said: “Drivers were unable to open their windows or leave their vehicles for fear of either being threatened or would-be stowaways getting on board.

“Numbers of migrants at the port have increased from a few hundred to about 3,000 and we are hearing every day from members whose trucks have been damaged, drivers have been threatened and deliveries have been compromised. This situation can’t be allowed to continue.”

Related: The Guardian view on the Calais migrants: Europe’s shared challenge | Editorial

More than 1,000 police officers remain in the city following the disturbances, including five units of France’s body-armoured riot police – at least 350 officers, according to the prefecture of Calais.

Another 200 officers are around Calais, bolstered by 35 riot police officers and 10 officers from the French anti-criminality brigade (BAC) to combat antisocial behaviour in the city centre.

Meanwhile, on the makeshift camp on the outskirts of Calais, which now contains more than 3,000 migrants, the determination to attempt to reach British shores remained undiminished.

Omid, a 26-year-old from Afghanistan, said he had been working as a contractor with the British before his brother was kidnapped by the Taliban and he was forced to flee for his life. On Wednesday, he managed to board a lorry and got as far as Dunkirk before being discovered by heat sensors and having to walk several hours back to his makeshift home.

He said: “I tried to get asylum in Poland, but they threw me in prison. Now my only hope is to get to the UK and work in the black [market]. I used to have a car and a bodyguard, but now I am here.”

Looking around at the squalid conditions in what is now unarguably a shanty town just 20 miles from the south-coast of England, he asked: “Is this Europe? Look at it. Either I’m dreaming or this is not Europe. It cannot be true.”