Thousands of migrants dumped on Britain as French wriggle out of border promise
Source: express.co.uk
Thousands of migrants could be dumped on Britain’s doorstep if France tears up a historic border agreement, it was claimed last night.
Officials have vowed to do “everything in their power” to wriggle out of a treaty moving the UK border to Calais.
The besieged town’s mayor Natacha Bouchart is prepared to spark a major diplomatic row by opening the frontier to a fresh wave of refugees who want to start a new life here.
In an exclusive interview, her deputy told the Daily Express she was redoubling efforts to quit the Le Touquet Treaty, stationing British border security at French ferry terminals. And he said he wished penniless migrants “luck” in getting to Britain.
If the treaty, signed in 2003, is scrapped, they would be free to cross the 21-mile English Channel, raising the spectre of scores of squalid camps along the South Coast.
Deputy Mayor Philippe Mignonet said: “If we have to force the British to transfer to Dover and Folkestone we will.
“Natacha will do everything she can to move the border back. You could put thousands of police around Calais and build a wall around England but it won’t change anything.
“Migrants don’t fall from the sky – they arrive in Calais to get to England. They’ve nothing to lose. They want to go to England – whose fault is that?
“They have left everything behind, travelled so many miles and known so many difficulties. It’s their dream, so I wish them luck. It is useless to say England doesn’t want immigration because still they come.”
The treaty sees cross-Channel route checks done before passengers board trains or ferries rather than on arrival. Ms Bouchart claims this has given Calais a global reputation as a waiting room for migrants desperate to reach the UK.
The Daily Express has already revealed how a kiddies’ holiday park has been turned into a five-star migrant shelter.
Women and children at the Jules Ferry Centre get luxury accommodation with hot showers and are fed twice a day by a Michelin-star chef in a statesponsored arrangement costing £6million a year. Half is funded by Europe, meaning UK taxpayers contribute towards the extravagant operation.
Officials seized 19,003 stowaways trying to smuggle themselves into Britain on the back of lorries during the last year - an average of 52 a day.
Experts claim 1.1million migrants are already in the UK illegally.
Ukip MEP Steven Woolfe said: “The appalling sight of migrant boats in the Mediterranean is one of the horrors of our age. Tearing up this agreement would create the same situation in the Channel.”
Source: express.co.uk
