‘New Sangatte camp’ to hold 3,000 migrants

FRANCE is to spend more than £1million on a new camp for up to 3,000 migrants amid fears it will become a ‘second Sangatte’.

The tented facility near Dunkirk will be the country’s first official camp in more than 13 years.

Only five miles from the ferry port, critics claim it will act as a magnet for migrants and become the latest ‘jumping off point’ for those trying to enter the UK.

Many worry it will end up like the notorious Red Cross Sangatte camp near Calais, which was closed in 2002 after massive overcrowding led to rioting.

The new encampment at Grand-Synthe will be built close to the site of an existing shanty town where thousands are squatting. Work is to begin immediately, with completion expected within weeks.

It is less than 30 miles from the ‘new Jungle’ camp near Calais where around 5,000 migrants wait while they try to reach the UK on board lorries and ferries.

Britain, which has already handed over millions of pounds towards security measures at Calais and the Channel Tunnel, may now be expected to contribute to the additional security at Dunkirk.

Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of Migration-Watch UK, said: ‘Migrants in France should either be considered for asylum in France or removed to their own countries as economic migrants.

‘To provide a comfortable waiting area for those who prefer to be in Britain is a travesty of the entire asylum system.’