Like thousands of refugees, he had left behind friends and loved ones for the chance of a better life. But… my first “but” is the manner in which our wealthy societies portray themselves overseas by using chemical irritants against 200 people planning to storm a train bound for the other end. Although Germany and Sweden have already accepted tens of thousands, destitute Greece and fiscally challenged Italy are now bearing a large part of the burden of new arrivals. In April, the French government said migrants would be tolerated at this site, known as “The Jungle”.
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The men walked up to a gate about a mile from the Coquelles Channel Tunnel terminal near Calais and were inside within seconds, the newspaper reported.
An unnamed British official was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying that Mr. Haroun could now face prison and will likely not be able to secure asylum. “He has lost everything”. He is expected to appear at Canterbury Crown Court on August. 24.
The law office representing him declined to speak about the case while it was still pending, media reports claimed.
Prime Minister David Cameron, now on a trade visit to South East Asia, has insisted Britain’s borders are safe and that he “totally understands people’s frustrations” at the disruption.
Calais has long been a gathering place for migrants trying to find a way into the United Kingdom.
“Why do we care more about Cecil the lion than we do about the “swarm” of migrants at Calais?” the journalist Frances Ryan recently asked in the New Statesman magazine, referring to the killing of a 13-year-old lion in Zimbabwe by a Minnesota dentist, which has drawn global sympathy and anger.
UNHCR voiced its readiness to further assist France, the UK and other EU member States in finding practical and comprehensive solutions. He said that the criminalizing of Mr. Haroun’s journey underlined a paradox of British policy and that of Europe as a whole. “Because yesterday we tried the fences and now tonight we will try again, and will keep trying until we get through”. For the first time since the 2002 destruction of a huge migrant camp outside Calais, Konforti said, “the government says ‘Go there”. He was arrested after getting stuck in a storeroom.
Eurotunnel, which operates the Channel Tunnel, was also inspecting a section of one of the undersea tunnels for an “anomaly” that was causing delays earlier Tuesday, the group said, though traffic returned to normal later in the day.
But others said the march had nothing to do with them.
The Government has promised to boost security in Calais by sending additional security guards, sniffer dogs, fences and surveillance equipment including more CCTV to tackle the crisis. One migrant said he last washed his trousers weeks ago, in Hungary.
A Sudanese migrant is accused of nearly succeeding in walking 31 miles through the pitch-dark Channel Tunnel from France to Britain, dodging tight security and high-speed trains along the way.
Mr. Haroun used the southern rail crossing, Eurotunnel said. The French should sort it out on their side of the border.
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Since the beginning of June, eight migrants have died trying to enter the Channel Tunnel. They’ve crossed the Mediterranean and traveled through Europe to arrive here. An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 migrants are housed in a camp near Calais.
