The figures emerged as Home Secretary Amber Rudd dismissed threats from the French to ditch United Kingdom border checks at Calais.
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Mr Sarkozy, who hopes to make a comeback in the French presidential election next year, said the controversial “Jungle” migrant camp should be shut down and moved to Britain.
But in recent days Republican presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy said Britain should process asylum claims on its soil, and Xavier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France council, called for the establishment of a “hotspot” whereby claims for asylum in Britain could be processed in Calais.
According to data released under the Freedom of Information Act, Kent Police made 2,092 arrests between January 2013 and April 2016 – the third highest number of any force.
Why don’t Calais migrants claim asylum in France?
Officially, Miss Rudd is set to discuss security in Paris today with her French counterpart, interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, in her first official overseas engagement as Home Secretary.
‘I want a new treatment of asylum claims for migrants who want to claim asylum in England, ‘ said Mr Bertrand.
Officially the border control accord is bi-lateral and therefore remains valid even if Britain leaves the EU.
“I support the Government in resisting pressure to change border arrangements but it is crass and insensitive for them to make this threat and link these two issues”, he said”.
France’s Socialist government, including Cazeneuve and President Francois Hollande, have said they will respect the Touquet agreement which, if dropped, could spur the flow of refugees fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa through France to Britain.
A Home Office source told the Telegraph: “The Home Secretary is crystal clear that people in need of protection should seek asylum in the first safe country they enter”.
Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “The French and British governments have both failed to deal with the pile up of refugees in Calais over the a year ago, and we’re now facing the consequences of that failure”.
The prospect of a mass influx of asylum-seekers from northern France is deeply alarming for many in the UK.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We remain committed to working together to protect our shared border in Calais and to maintain the juxtaposed controls”.
Britain and France have pledged to work together to address the Calais migrant crisis – after Downing Street made clear it will resist attempts to change the agreement on border checks there. The source added: “That’s the long-held, global norm, and we’re going to stick to it”.
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FTA is also calling for proper processing procedures to be put in place to ensure that genuine asylum seekers quickly receive the help they need.
