Hundreds still flocking to port

DESPITE the demolition of the sprawling ‘Jungle’, migrants continue to descend on Calais.

The port remains a magnet for those determined to reach the UK, with human traffickers offering to sneak people on to trucks crossing the Channel by ferry or through the tunnel – for a charge of thousands of pounds. Eighteen months ago more than ,000 migrants were living in the makeshift Jungle camp close to the border, using it as a springboard for illegal UK entry. At the height of the crisis migrants were caught trying to sneak into Britain at a rate of one every six minutes – with 84,088 detentions at our borders last year. Most were caught at Calais – effectively Britain’s frontier on foreign soil.

The shanty town was demolished in October 2016, but French authorities have reported a growing build-up of foreign nationals who are hoping to reach Britain. Some are fleeing humanitarian disasters, but others are seeking to reach the UK for purely economic reasons. Local charities put the number of migrants living in Calais at around 800, while the authorities say there are between 550 and 600. Mainly young African and Afghan men, they hide from the police in camps in the woods, emerging at night to board passing trucks.

President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to stop Calais being a ‘back door to Britain’ – as long we stump up more cash. The UK has spent £200million over the past four years on security at Calais.