France says ‘non’ to new Calais centre for migrants

FRANCE has rejected pleas from charities for a new welcome centre for up to 600 UK-bound migrants in Calais.

During an emergency visit to the French port, interior minister Gerard Collomb said the only solution to the growing build-up of asylum seekers was better security.

Eleven charity and human rights groups appeared before the Administrative Court of Appeal in Lille on Wednesday, and called for the construction of a new centre.

Aid agencies say about 400600 migrants are gathered and sleeping rough on the streets.

But the minister said he is suspicious of centres that take people ‘for a few days’, then become permanent.

He added: ‘If we create a centre here, it will quickly be overwhelmed and we will not be able to cope with this situation.

‘The precedents of Sangatte and Jungle camp show what happens.’

He was referring to the Red Cross centre in Sangatte, which became a magnet for migrants before being closed in 2002, and the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp, which was razed last October.