More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Desperate migrants are trying to climb aboard moving lorries as delays build in Calais.
Videos show crowds of migrants chasing lorries down the road, while another features a crowd of men pulling people from the back of a truck and attacking them.
The chaotic scenes come as Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke says the Mayor of Calais has lost control of the town as the French government moved to equip a migrant shanty town with toilets, electricity and new shelters.
The MP warned the move would only serve to attract even more migrants to the town as they sought to cross the channel to reach the UK.
His comments come as there are reports today that migrants are trying to exploit a strike by French ferry workers to clamber on to lorries on route for the UK.
He said: “I am very concerned by it. It is high time the French authorities took control of the situation and ensure that people are returned to their country of origin.
"I am concerned that the Calais authorities want to create a magnet that will only attract more people to the town.”
He added: “I am also concerned about the safety and security of travellers crossing to France and returning. It is hugely worrying that the Mayor of Calais has lost control and I know ministers are just as concerned as I am.”
Video shot by Heimdallr20 two days ago suggests some drivers may be taking things into their own hands
The ‘upgrade’ to the settlement has been authorised by the French government after criticism from the United Nations and aid groups about the conditions migrants were living in.
But it has triggered concerns that the camp will be another version of Sangatte, the original camp that was closed in 2002.
Mr Elphicke said not enough was being done to return migrants to their country of origin and that Italy needed to do more to stop people travelling on to France.
He also called on France to review its position on the Schengen agreement, under which member states have abolished internal borders but can periodically re-impose borders where there issues of national security or public policy issues.
“France needs to consider its future in Schengen...the siutation is not fair on Calais,” he said.
The mayor Natacha Bouchart said the UK should be doing more to help.
In an interview with French radio, she said improvements to the camp would not act as a magnet “as they are already flowing here.”
There are now an estimated 3,000 migrants in the area and many are making increasingly desperate attempts to reach the UK.
Most are from Syria, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. Many are children, some of whom are unaccompanied.
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