Months after half of the “Jungle” refugee camp in Calais, France was demolished, the audacious plan to rid the French port of the migrant problem has backfired. French police say despite the clearing, the population of the camp has doubled to nearly 10,000 sine June. The camp, it is said is a lawless “no-go zone” with inter-ethnic tensions.
Last week an Afghan man was killed and several others injured as hundreds of Sudanese and Afghans fought each other. Gilles Debove, an official with the SGP FO police union said, “It’s an explosive situation. There are fights all the time in the camp.” He added, for a long time the Afghans were here in greater numbers, but now it is the Sudanese who have the upper hand. He also said “Every night there are around 1000 migrants on the roads leading to the ferry port and the Channel Tunnel entrance.” These migrants are trying to get on broad trucks and trains which will bring them to England.
As the Calais crisis grows, Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd flew to Paris amid a threat by UK to review its security co-operation with France. Under the 2003 Le Troquet accord, British border checks take place in the Calais port, preventing thousands of potential migrants crossing into Britain. Whitehall insiders said there was no imminent threat to the accord. However a senior government source issued a diplomatic warning that the border deal was part of the wider bilateral relations that included significant security co-operation.
