Calais crisis far from over as thousands of immigrants head for the UK
The Channel Tunnel will be closed at night if the Calais crisis worsens under plans being considered by ministers - as it emerged that an African migrant walked almost its entire length.
Ministers have sought legal advice on what was described by Whitehall sources as the “nuclear option” of closing the tunnel to freight and passenger trains overnight.
The proposal, which has been discussed at meetings of the government’s emergency Cobra committee, follows concerns that the number of services at night is increasing the risk of migrants making it through the tunnel.
It comes as a Sudanese man was arrested by British police on Tuesday just steps away from the mouth of Eurotunnel in Folkestone, Kent, after dodging trains travelling at 100mph.
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Haven't heard of the Calais crisis?
Don't worry the media tries to spam other non-stories to keep it out of the spotlight. You probably don't know as an American what the Calais Crisis is.
Thousands of migrants who are camped in Calais are attempting to reach the UK by crossing the Channel.
Some try to stow away on lorries bound for cross-Channel ferries. During recent strikes by French ferry workers, which closed the Channel Tunnel, migrants openly tried to board lorries stuck in traffic on the roads leading to the port. There have also been some reports of migrants attempting to stow away in people's cars.
Most recently, activity has shifted more to the Channel Tunnel. Migrants attempt to stow away on lorries headed for the Eurotunnel, or jump or cut security fences to try to hide on Eurotunnel trains themselves.
Eurotunnel has described "nightly incursions", with groups of up to hundreds of migrants attempting to breach security at once.
How long has this been going on?
While the number of migrants is currently at a high, the issue is far from new. In 1999, the controversial Sangatte refugee camp was opened in Calais, attracting thousands of would-be asylum seekers and people traffickers.
Its closure in 2001 and 2002 - on the orders of France's then minister of the interior, Nicolas Sarkozy - led to riots. Since then migrants have continued to arrive in Calais and build makeshift camps near the port. French authorities estimate there are about 3,000 people currently living in the camps known as "the Jungle", although other estimates put the higher.
The issue made headlines again in September last year after a ferry bound for the UK was stormed by about 235 illegal migrants.
The Home Office said Border Force and the French authorities together prevented more than 39,000 attempts to cross the Channel illegally in 2014/15 - more than double the number prevented the previous year, while Eurotunnel, which operates the Channel Tunnel says it has blocked 37,000 attempts since January.
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And this leads to:
Mandatry ID cards (soon)
Identity cards are now "essential" in the wake of the Calais migrant crisis, campaigners have claimed.
The report said: "In the longer-term we must return to the introduction of ID cards.
"The French are right to point out that the absence of ID cards in the UK makes it far too easy for migrants to stay on illegally and find work in Britain."
"There are no ID cards. They can easily find work outside the formal economy, which is not really controlled."
ID cards were first mooted by the Labour government in 2003. However, the project was scrapped by the coalition in 2010.
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