Reports on Friday said British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is expected to chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee to discuss thousands of migrants stranded in the French port of Calais.
Cameron is expected to prioritise strengthening security in Calais and on both sides of the Channel Tunnel, which runs under the English Channel between Britain and France.
The reports said no fewer than 200 migrants crossed security fences in attempts to reach the tunnel overnight, following much larger nightly incursions since Sunday.
Speaking in Vietnam on Thursday, Cameron promised that Britain would deport more illegal migrants “so people know it is not a safe haven.’’
He said Britain and other European nations faced a `swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life,’ drawing condemnation from opposition politicians, rights groups and a UN envoy.
Peter Sutherland, the UN Secretary-General’s envoy on international migration, told newsmen that such claims were exaggerated and calculated to inflame tensions with regards to the numbers trying to come into Britain. (dpa/NAN)