Over two hundred people attempted to illegally cross the English Channel on Eurotunnel trains from the French city of Calais, reports the Daily Mail. They were barely held back by French riot police which needed to use batons and tear gas to keep the mob away from the terminal.
Other images showed migrants trying to enter the Eurotunnel terminal by clinging onto trucks, climbing and cutting the fences or even navigating through the train tracks in hopes of boarding one bound for Great Britain. No people were reportedly injured, despite migrants trying several times to rush police cordons.
This is the biggest incident to date caused by an ongoing immigrant crisis in the French city of Calais, where thousands of people are living in makeshift camps waiting for an opportunity to reach the United Kingdom.
Refugees from countries decimated by ongoing conflicts, poor civil rights record or just widespread poverty – such as Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Sudan or Eritrea – have arrived in great numbers near Calais, which is host to the French side of the Eurotunnel going under the English Channel. They live in a number of camps in the wilderness outside Calais, with the largest one called “The Jungle” being host to over 4,000 people.
Every night, people from the camps try to break through the vigilance of Calais’ police and board trains to England, either by sneaking onto them directly or hiding in cars bound to be transported through the Eurotunnel.
According to a BBC report, the Calais migrants are mostly young people and children, living in preposterous conditions; most are sleeping on the ground under trees while a small portion have improvised makeshift homes and even a school for children. A significant part were already caught this year trying to sneak onto trains to Britain, but were released by the French police just a couple of miles from The Jungle.
The French police claims that this happens because the high number of migrants makes it impossible to arrest and detain all of them, as over 18,000 were caught trying to sneak into England from Calais this year alone. Officers are instead reportedly focusing on safekeeping the roads, as the migrants endanger both their lives and those who travel through the city.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron has revealed that the government plans to organize flights which will send caught illegal immigrants back to their respective countries, while also aiding the French police in Calais with agents, fences and specially trained dogs.
Image Source: Daily Mail
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