THE mayor of Calais yesterday called on France to provoke a “diplomatic incident” with Britain, saying the UK should either join Europe’s borderless Schengen zone or leave the union.
Natacha Bouchart said Britain “did not give a euro” towards helping her handle migrants in the town, and the lack of support suggested the UK was “not honoured to be part of Europe”.
She called for the creation of a “night welcome centre” for migrants near the Channel port, saying British and French government suggestions that this would act as a “magnet” for more arrivals was nonsensical as “they are already flowing here”.
Aid agencies in Calais have warned that the migrant crisis has reached record levels, with numbers swelling from around 1,000 in April to 3,000 this month.
Ms Bouchart said on French radio: “I am calling for a diplomatic incident with the British government. We are forced to endure situations that are inexplicable.”
She claimed the UK would help matters if it introduced “drastic” rules making it harder for migrants to live and work in Britain, thus lowering its attractiveness.
Ms Bouchart has previously accused Britain of turning a blind eye to illegal immigrants working in the black economy.
It was confirmed yesterday that British-backed surveillance missions against people traffickers in the Mediterra- nean would go ahead within days. Federica Mogherini, the EU’s most senior diplomat, said European foreign ministers had given their unanimous backing to the first phase of a military operation against smuggling gangs in North Africa.
Britain has committed HMS Enterprise to the operation. The vessel is equipped with a Survey Motor Launch and was deployed in search-and-destroy operations against pirates in the Gulf of Aden and Somali basin.
Officers at GCHQ will take part in eavesdropping operations against the smugglers, including detecting their money flows.
In total, foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg approved the dispatch of five warships, two submarines, three reconnaissance planes, three helicopters and two drones to monitor smugglers and help with rescues at sea.
Twelve countries will take part in the military mission, which has its headquarters in Rome under the command of Italian Rear Admiral Enrico Credendino.
The Italian aircraft carrier Cavour will serve as the seabased command centre and as a hospital ship to treat injured and sick refugees.
The intelligence-gathering phase starts early next month and will reach full strength in late July, ultimately involving 1,000 troops, it is understood.