MIGRANT MOUND Refugee camps return within sight of flattened Calais Jungle
HUNDREDS of migrants scrambling to reach Britain this summer have set up new camps at Calais, the Daily Express can reveal today.
As these pictures show, about 500 people are now living in wasteland just yards from where the notorious “Jungle” shanty town was flattened.
They have returned to the area from centres across France, where they were sent after the camp was emptied last year. Now, six months after they were evicted, tension is mounting as hordes gather to try their luck again.
Yesterday, gangs of migrants used burning blockades on the busy A16 motorway close to the port in an effort to ambush UK-bound trucks.
There were also skirmishes between riot police and volunteers after they were prevented from handing out aid.
Pounce
Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart banned agencies handing out food and water, fearing it would act as a migrant magnet. Yesterday volunteers with the French charity Secours Catholique were involved in clashes with police.
Experts said the invasion raised fears of a fresh Anglo-French crisis this summer as increasing numbers congregate to cross the Channel as stowaways.
Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, who is in Calais with the Daily Express, said: “It’s shocking to see and I get the sense we are heading towards another summer of discontent. This is identical to how it all started two years ago.”
Some 10,000 people were ejected after the Jungle was razed in October.
But this newspaper saw vast numbers of refugees sitting on gravel mounds close to the ferry terminal yesterday.
Many more were spotted in woods and sand dunes where they have made illegal camps, on roads and lurking under motorway bridges, waiting to pounce on British-registered trucks.
Charlie Elphicke, the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Dover, said: “These worrying scenes underline why the French must act now to stop a new migrant camp from forming.
“Before the Jungle was dismantled, tourists and truckers were attacked on a daily basis. [This] must not be allowed to return. We must ensure security at our border is stronger than ever.” Evidence of a looming cross-Channel security crisis comes after it emerged UK taxpayers are still paying £1million a week to tackle the chaos.
The total spent, including building a 13ft wall to keep migrants off the motorway leading to Calais, could have funded more than 13,500 new nurses.
Ukip home affairs spokeswoman Jane Collins said: “The European migrant crisis has returned with a vengeance. This situation is an absolute scandal and helping no one.”