Reuters – Refugees and migrants in Calais, whose situation the UK and France have jointly pledged to improve in a statement today.
The UK and France have pledged to “step up” cooperation to improve the situation in Calais where some 7,000 refugees and migrants have congregated at the Channel tunnel port.
A joint statement by the home secretary Amber Rudd and her French counterpart Bernard Cazaneuve said they will work together to strengthen security around the “shared border” in Calais and “strongly diminish” the migratory pressures in Calais.
The statement affirms that the two countries will resolve the situation through “close cooperation” but makes no reference to calls from some French politicians for an asylum “hotspot” processing centre to be set up in Calais to consider claims for asylum in the UK – a move described as “a complete non-starter” by a Home Office source.
The two countries pledged to continue to tackle the organised crime gangs exploiting the vulnerable, address the humanitarian concerns at Calais which includes some 5,000 migrants left without housing, and further secure the port.
Rudd and Cazeneuve said: “The two countries recognise the humanitarian situation in Calais that affects both countries and the need to step up joint efforts to improve the situation in Calais.”
The joint statement went on: “In the face of the challenges posed by ongoing migratory flows in Europe, and taking into account the migratory pressure in the Calais region and the particularly difficult humanitarian situation, we are committed to working together to strengthen the security of our shared border, to strongly diminish the migratory pressure in Calais and preserve the vital economic link supported by the juxtaposed controls in Calais.”
The countries reaffirmed their commitment to the 2003 Le Touquet deal between France and the UK, under which Britain can carry out checks in Calais on people heading for the UK, while French officials do so in Dover.
On Monday the president of the Calais region, Xavier Bertrand, called for the Le Touquet agreement to be scrapped. “It’s not possible to keep people here without a new agreement between the two governments,” he said.
During the referendum campaign both David Cameron and Francois Hollande suggested that the agreement could be threatened by a Brexit vote.
The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who is standing again to be president, has called for a processing centre in England to deal with asylum requests from those in Calais, but a Downing Street spokesman played down the speculation.
