Kent Tory MPs oppose Dunkirk migrant 'departure lounge'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-35230309

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A migrant camp in the French port of Dunkirk will create a "departure lounge" for illegal immigrants trying to reach the UK, two Kent MPs claim.

Conservatives Charlie Elphicke and Damian Collins have objected to the plan saying Kent people needed strong, secure borders.

Mayor of the Grand-Synthe commune, Damien Careme, said the camp would give people "a minimum of human dignity".

Aid workers have said people in the current camp are living in squalor.

Mr Elphicke said he accepted there was a humanitarian crisis but argued an official camp near a Channel port was not the solution.

The Dover MP said: "My constituents are deeply concerned to make sure we have strong, secure borders between Calais and Dunkirk and Dover and we don't have people breaking into the country.

"It's been a big problem for east Kent, particularly with people on lorries. It's caused major problems at the port."

Folkestone and Hythe MP Mr Collins said: "If you create more facilities, more people will come."

He said France should close down the camps altogether, and process asylum claims or repatriate people.

In France, Mr Careme said he could not leave 2,500 people living in mud and water - including 200 children and 120 mothers.

"I refuse to have people die in this area because we aren't doing anything for them. It's simply to give them a minimum of human dignity."

Maddie Harris, a volunteer who has been working in Dunkirk for more than three months, said conditions in the makeshift camp were "totally inhumane".

She said it had 30 toilets for about 3,000 people, everyone was using thin, nylon tents, and each morning volunteers found people in six inches of water.

"We are waiting for confirmation of a new camp but our primary focus is to improve how people are living right now," she added.

Immigration minister James Brokenshire said the UK was working closely with French authorities at political and operational levels on measures to bolster French ports.

He said France had opened up thousands of new places in its asylum system.