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Theresa May announces work on plans to stop Channel tunnel migrants Theresa May announces work on plans to stop Channel tunnel migrants
(about 1 hour later)
Urgent work to accelerate the introduction of extra security measures to stop migrants attempting to enter Britain illegally through the Channel tunnel has been agreed, the home secretary, Theresa May has announced.Urgent work to accelerate the introduction of extra security measures to stop migrants attempting to enter Britain illegally through the Channel tunnel has been agreed, the home secretary, Theresa May has announced.
Speaking after a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee, called in the wake of this week’s renewed mass attempts by migrants to cross from Calais and the death of a Sudanese man in his 20s, the home secretary said: “What we are seeing at the railhead at Coquelles is, as we are putting extra security fencing in, there have been migrants particularly trying to get into the Eurotunnel and on to the trains before that security fencing is going up.Speaking after a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee, called in the wake of this week’s renewed mass attempts by migrants to cross from Calais and the death of a Sudanese man in his 20s, the home secretary said: “What we are seeing at the railhead at Coquelles is, as we are putting extra security fencing in, there have been migrants particularly trying to get into the Eurotunnel and on to the trains before that security fencing is going up.
“One of the outcomes of the meeting today was some more urgent work with government departments but also with Eurotunnel on further measures that can taken at Coquelles to prevent people getting into the tunnel.”“One of the outcomes of the meeting today was some more urgent work with government departments but also with Eurotunnel on further measures that can taken at Coquelles to prevent people getting into the tunnel.”
Pressure is being brought to bear on Eurotunnel to ensure it rapidly installs the new fencing Britain has agreed to pay for.Pressure is being brought to bear on Eurotunnel to ensure it rapidly installs the new fencing Britain has agreed to pay for.
Ministers have been alarmed at the nightly scenes of repeated mass attempts – 2,000 were reported to have been made on Monday and 1,500 on Tuesday – by several hundred migrants trying to cross illicitly from Calais to Dover.Ministers have been alarmed at the nightly scenes of repeated mass attempts – 2,000 were reported to have been made on Monday and 1,500 on Tuesday – by several hundred migrants trying to cross illicitly from Calais to Dover.
In recent days, as security has improved, their attempts have switched from the approaches to Calais port where lorries now queue in a temporary protected area to the unprotected approaches to the railhead at nearby Coquelles and the entry to the tunnel. In recent days, as security has improved, their attempts have switched from the approaches to Calais port, where lorries now queue in a temporary protected area to the unprotected approaches to the railhead at nearby Coquelles and the entry to the tunnel.
May said the emergency Cobra meeting had also focused on the British side of the Channel and the “real problems” caused to Kent residents and holidaymakers by Operation Stack, involving the closure of the M20 while queueing lorries wait to cross.May said the emergency Cobra meeting had also focused on the British side of the Channel and the “real problems” caused to Kent residents and holidaymakers by Operation Stack, involving the closure of the M20 while queueing lorries wait to cross.
“The meeting has tasked the Department for Transport, working with Kent county council and others, to find options urgently to ensure we can reduce that disruption,” she said. The Highways Agency recently rejected plans for a contraflow lorry queueing system on the motorway and other options have been looked at including using Manston airport as a temporary lorry park. “The meeting has tasked the Department for Transport, working with Kent county council and others, to find options urgently to ensure we can reduce that disruption,” she said. The Highways Agency recently rejected plans for a contraflow lorry queueing system on the motorway and other options have been looked at, including using Manston airport as a temporary lorry park.
The home secretary acknowledged that “a number of people” had made it across the Channel in the last few days but refused to specify a figure, and insisted that those who claimed asylum would be dealt with in the normal way.The home secretary acknowledged that “a number of people” had made it across the Channel in the last few days but refused to specify a figure, and insisted that those who claimed asylum would be dealt with in the normal way.
“But crucially what we are looking at now is improving security at the railhead at Coquelles, so we can ensure people are not trying to come through the tunnel. That means some urgent work in government but also with Eurotunnel, and Eurotunnel has a role to play here in measures they themselves put in place to protect their trains,” she said.“But crucially what we are looking at now is improving security at the railhead at Coquelles, so we can ensure people are not trying to come through the tunnel. That means some urgent work in government but also with Eurotunnel, and Eurotunnel has a role to play here in measures they themselves put in place to protect their trains,” she said.
Since May met her French opposite number, Bernard Cazeneuve, on Monday she has announced an extra £7m in funding to pay for urgent extra fencing, sniffer dogs and other security measures. Since May met her French opposite number, Bernard Cazeneuve, on Monday, she has announced an extra £7m in funding to pay for urgent extra fencing, sniffer dogs and other security measures.
The French have brought a further 120 police into the area to help with law and order problems and the two governments have agreed to put into practice a new returns scheme to ensure migrants, particularly from west Africa, can be returned without first coming to Britain.The French have brought a further 120 police into the area to help with law and order problems and the two governments have agreed to put into practice a new returns scheme to ensure migrants, particularly from west Africa, can be returned without first coming to Britain.
No details have yet emerged about how the scheme will distinguish the asylum seekers, who must be allowed to stay while their claims are considered, from the illegal migrants who can be returned. No details have yet emerged about how the scheme will distinguish the asylum seekers, who must be allowed to stay while their claims are considered, from illegal migrants, who can be returned.
The home secretary said that ultimately the problem at Calais would only be solved “at source” by reducing the number of migrants making the journey across Europe from Africa. She said: “We need to break that link between making that dangerous journey, as it often is for people, and coming to settle in Europe. We do that by working with countries upstream, the work we are going to be doing with the French on returning people to west Africa and also on dealing with the criminal gangs that are making a profit out of people’s misery.” The home secretary said that ultimately the problem at Calais would only be solved “at source” by reducing the number of migrants making the journey across Europe from Africa.
She said: “We need to break that link between making that dangerous journey, as it often is for people, and coming to settle in Europe. We do that by working with countries upstream, the work we are going to be doing with the French on returning people to west Africa and also on dealing with the criminal gangs that are making a profit out of people’s misery.”