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More Migrants in France Attempt Dangerous Channel Crossing Britain and France Scramble as Migrants Keep Trying to Cross Channel
(about 2 hours later)
LONDON — Britain and France scrambled on Wednesday to find ways to stop hundreds of people living in squalid camps in northern France from forcing their way through the Channel Tunnel. LONDON — They have reached Europe after often-treacherous journeys, usually across the Mediterranean. They have dodged the authorities as they made their way northward toward their ultimate goal, Britain. But now, thousands of illegal migrants, refugees from war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, find themselves bottled up at one final choke point in northern France: the entrance to the Channel Tunnel.
For two successive nights, migrants trying to travel illegally to Britain have made more than a thousand attempts to gain entry to the terminal in France used by trains to make the 35-minute crossing under the English Channel. Over two nights this week, their desperation and frustration have flared to new levels as they have tried in far larger numbers than normal to breach the security around the tunnel and hide themselves amid the trucks and freight being shuttled by rail from Calais to southern England.
“Some migrants must have tried several times” to penetrate the site, Romain Dufour, a spokesman in France for Eurotunnel, which operates the Channel crossing, said Tuesday. The French police said there had been about 2,100 attempts by migrants to gain access to the tunnel on Monday, and Eurotunnel, the company that operates the 31-mile English Channel crossing, put the number for Tuesday night at about 1,500.
“This wasn’t a wave; this was many groups, all night long,” he added. “It was more significant numbers than usual.” At least one migrant, believed to be a Sudanese man, died in the attempts this week. An unknown number slipped through, the authorities said. Most of those who tried were caught and turned back — free, by and large, to try again, leaving the governments of France and Britain scrambling to shore up defenses around the tunnel and deal with the political and economic reverberations from the latest flash point in Europe’s escalating migrant crisis.
One migrant, who the French police said was Sudanese, died Tuesday night after he was apparently crushed by a truck while trying to enter the tunnel. It was the latest of several recent fatalities among those trying desperately to reach Britain. The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, sent 120 additional police officers to Calais on Wednesday and described the city, a port on the English Channel, as “a mirror of the conflicts and crises that are tearing some of the world’s regions apart.”
Across Europe, governments are battling to contain the large movement of people that has been fueled by conflicts in the Middle East and Africa and by economic migration. In London, British ministers and other officials held emergency talks as pressure mounted for a more robust response to a situation that has disrupted trade and tourism and put two of the world’s wealthiest nations at the center of the debate over how to cope with a seemingly unstoppable tide of migrants seeking a better life.
British ministers and other officials held emergency talks in London on Wednesday as the authorities on both sides of the English Channel considered ways to tighten security around the tunnel. Britain has promised an extra 7 million pounds, or about $11 million, to help reinforce security on the French side of the Channel; it had already committed £15 million to the effort. Mattia Toaldo, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a research institute, said there would “be more of these flash points, because the number of migrants is growing, and to much higher numbers than in the past.”
France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, also promised to reinforce security and, in a statement Tuesday, described the migration situation as one of “exceptional gravity.” Calais has joined other spots in Europe that are becoming synonymous with the Continent’s inability to halt the flow of migrants into its territory and agree on a way to handle those who make it. They include the islands of Lampedusa in Italy and Lesbos in Greece, where many migrants first land; the fence that Hungary is erecting along its border with Serbia, the latest effort to stop them from migrating northward; and towns like Ventimiglia, Italy, on the border with France, where the authorities are making it harder for them to proceed.
Many of the migrants trying to reach Britain leave from the port of Calais in France, where their numbers have swelled to more than 3,000, according to local volunteers. Some say the numbers are even higher. “What we are seeing is the result of the European Union not being able to handle the migration crisis in the way that they should,” said Camino Mortera-Martinez, a research fellow at the Center for European Reform, a research institute.
Under cover of night, migrants climb over fences and other barriers at the Eurotunnel compound on the French side of the Channel to board freight trains bound for Britain. “Everyone is blaming each other for not handling the crisis properly,” she said. “The Italians and Greeks are blaming everyone else for not helping them. France is blaming Italy for giving documents to asylum-seekers, without checking them properly, so they can move on.”
Including the Sudanese man killed Tuesday, nine migrants have died trying to make it through the tunnel since the beginning of June. The English Channel is a focus of the broader European crisis because many migrants are trying to travel to Britain, where they believe they will find it easier to secure work. The country also appears more attractive because Britain does not operate an identity card system and because many migrants speak some English.
The authorities in France and Britain are considering broader measures to deter migrants from trying to stow away aboard a train or truck to make the dangerous trip under the English Channel. Calais is certainly feeling the strain. Eurotunnel said in a statement on Wednesday that it had intercepted more than 37,000 migrants since January.
Eurotunnel said in a statement on Wednesday that it had intercepted more than 37,000 migrants since January. Emmanuel Agius, deputy mayor of Calais, said in an interview on Wednesday that the city would like help from the United Nations to deal with the migrants, and he called for a summit meeting with the leaders of Britain and France to address the situation.
A spokesman for the company said there had been about 1,500 attempts by migrants to gain access to the tunnel on Tuesday night, and 2,000 on Monday, Reuters reported. “The city is continuing to suffer from this issue, economically and tourism-wise,” he said. Like other French officials, he suggested that Britain needed to do more to make itself a less appealing destination and to control the migrant flow on its side of the English Channel.
The attempts by migrants to breach the tunnel and climb aboard trucks or trains on the French side have created disorder and delays on both sides of the Channel. The delays have shaken public faith in Britain in the ability of the government to police its frontiers. It has also had a significant practical effect: Trucks leaving Britain have been forced to wait hours, and vacationers heading to France have faced significant delays. That sentiment has provoked a political reaction in Britain, where the government’s ability to police its frontiers has been questioned and where frustration with what many see as an insufficient response by France is growing. On Wednesday, Nigel Farage, leader of the populist, right-wing U.K. Independence Party, said the option of calling in the army to search incoming vehicles should “absolutely” be considered to help resolve a “lawless, scary” situation.
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said the situation was “very concerning.” Trucks leaving Britain have been forced to wait hours, and vacationers have also faced significant delays after the surge in efforts by the migrants to cross the Channel, which Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said was “very concerning.”
“I have every sympathy with holidaymakers who are finding access to Calais difficult because of the disturbances there, and we will do everything we can to work with the French to bring these things to a conclusion,” Mr. Cameron said in remarks made in Singapore. “I have every sympathy with holidaymakers who are finding access to Calais difficult because of the disturbances there, and we will do everything we can to work with the French to bring these things to a conclusion,” Mr. Cameron said in remarks made from Singapore.
“There’s no point trying to point fingers of blame,” Mr. Cameron said. “It’s about working with the French, putting in place these additional security measures, adding in the investment where that’s needed. Britain will always come forward with that.” Britain has promised an extra 7 million pounds, or about $11 million, to help reinforce security on the French side of the Channel, and Mr. Cameron was careful not to criticize the French authorities, upon whom the British rely to try to contain the migrant problem.
The migrants in Calais are confined to a squalid camp with few toilets and little water on the edge of the small city. During a recent visit, it seemed most of those in the camps were Afghans, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Syrians and Sudanese. “There’s no point trying to point fingers of blame,” he said. “It’s about working with the French, putting in place these additional security measures.”
Most plan to seek asylum when they arrive in Britain or to ask for protection as refugees. They say they are choosing to go there because they have relatives there, speak some English or believe they are more likely to get housing once they apply for asylum. It is not clear whether that belief is true. In Britain, as in many other European countries, misgivings about immigration, and sometimes outright hostility, are now expressed openly by mainstream politicians. About 3,000 migrants have been living in and around Calais, most of them in a camp known as “the jungle,” a squalid staging point for Afghans, Eritreans, Sudanese and other people who have made their way there in the belief that they can get across the Channel. From there, the migrants make regular efforts to get into the terminals where trucks wait for their turn to be loaded onto the rail lines that ferry them under the Channel to Britain, hoping to hide in or under the trucks. The refugee who died this week was said to have been struck by a truck unloading from one of the rail carriers.
On Wednesday, Nigel Farage, leader of the populist, right-wing U.K. Independence Party, said the option of calling in the army should “absolutely” be considered to help resolve a “lawless, scary” situation. While many European Union nations take part in a passport-free travel zone, Britain does not. But the number of daily crossings from France to Britain makes the Channel Tunnel, and ferry ports, difficult to police. Truck drivers have complained of being threatened by groups of immigrants seeking to stow away on their vehicles.
Under reciprocal arrangements, passport checks and other security measures for those traveling to Britain are undertaken on French soil before passengers leave. Many European Union nations take part in a passport-free travel zone, but Britain does not. Gilles Debove, a police union official in northern France, said that until now, there had been only about 60 police officers patrolling the vast complex at night, where the migrants can often be spotted openly climbing over or cutting through security fences. “The pressure is constant, and the work is redundant: few arrests, just bringing the migrants off-site, only to see them come back several hours later,” Mr. Debove said.
The number of daily crossings from France to Britain makes the Channel Tunnel and ferry ports difficult to police. Truck drivers have complained of being threatened by groups of immigrants seeking to stow away on their vehicles. In a letter sent to the head of Eurotunnel, Jacques Gounon, that was seen by news agencies, Mr. Cazeneuve accused the company of not doing enough to ensure security.
In the absence of Mr. Cameron, Theresa May, the British home secretary, presided over an emergency meeting Wednesday of senior ministers and officials in Downing Street. But in its statement on Wednesday, Eurotunnel said, “The continuous pressure exerted every night is above and beyond that which a concessionaire can reasonably handle and requires a constructive and appropriate response from the governments.”
After meeting with Mr. Cazeneuve, her French counterpart, on Tuesday, Ms. May said the two countries were working on returning illegal migrants to West Africa. It is vital, she added, to ensure that people know they will not be able to make their journey into Britain illegally. Theresa May, the British home secretary, presided on Wednesday over an emergency Downing Street meeting of senior ministers and officials.
However, she gave few details of how such a program of repatriation would work. After meeting with Mr. Cazeneuve, her French counterpart, on Tuesday, Ms. May said the two countries were working to return illegal migrants to West Africa. It was, she added, vital to ensure that people knew they would not be able to make their journey into Britain illegally.
In its statement on Wednesday, Eurotunnel said that the continuous flow of migrants every night was “above and beyond that which a concessionaire can reasonably handle and requires a constructive and appropriate response from the governments.” However, she gave few details of how such a program of repatriation would work. Critics point out that it is impossible to return migrants if they come from war-torn nations, including Syria.
Though the trip through the Channel Tunnel is difficult, many migrants consider it far less hazardous than, say, crossing the Mediterranean in a flimsy boat. And for many, it seems worth the risk. Humanitarian organizations working in the camp near Calais have also argued that new fences and more police will do little to deter migrants who fled their home countries with no intention of turning back after making grueling trips across land and sea.
When asked how often he had tried to make it to Britain, an Eritrean man recently interviewed on the edge of Calais in France said: “Every night. Maybe tonight I will be lucky.” “The more construction there is and the more security there is, the more the migrants will be pushed back,” said Anne Greff, a volunteer with the Secours Catholique in Calais. “But it won’t prevent them from trying again.”