The scale of the arrests has triggered warnings that the state of the UK’s borders was “even worse” than previously thought.
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Labour’s shadow home secretary Andy Burnham also called on Theresa May to “disown” the comments urging for a security policy change with France.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and British counterpart Amber Rudd met in Paris and said in a joint statement that both countries plan to further secure the port and tunnels in coming months.
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.
The total of 27,800 suspected illegal immigrants detained in England, Wales and Northern Ireland does not include those discovered at ports or airports, or people whose visas had expired.
Many refugees and migrants fleeing war and poverty have been turning to people smugglers to guide them through the Balkans and on toward the European Union after countries closed their borders in March.
The government said it was committed to working together to protect the shared border in Calais and insisted there was “an excellent relationship with the French government on these issues”.
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 past year, and we’re now facing the consequences of that failure”.
‘We are also committed to finding long-term solutions to the problem of illegal migration, which is why we created the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce a year ago to work with law enforcement and worldwide partners to target the organised crime gangs behind people smuggling’.
“So I think what Xavier Bertrand is suggesting is that he copies that idea and does it in Calais, but I think there are all sorts of problems with it”.
A source close to Mrs Rudd told The Daily Telegraph that discussing an end to this agreement was a “complete non-starter”.
Dover MP Charlie Elphicke warned against Britain initiating a “tit-for-tat response” after senior government officials reportedly threatened to retaliate by reviewing security co-operation with France.
Mr Bertrand wants a new deal in which migrants hoping to claim asylum in the United Kingdom would be able to do so at a “hotspot” in France.
Those who are refused entry should be deported immediately.
Prospective French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, who actually helped to broker the 2003 bilateral accord, believes the agreement should be torn up and that Britain should deal on its own soil with asylum claims of those in the so-called “Calais Jungle”.
Sir Peter Ricketts, the former British ambassador to Paris, said the proposals to create hotspots risked attracting thousands of migrants to France and placing an extra burden on Britain’s already strained asylum system.
“If the British Government don’t want to open this discussion, we will tell you Touquet Agreement is over”.
Mr Sarkozy, who is attempting a political comeback at next year’s election, says Britain should manage the asylum process, accepting those it wants on British territory and organising charters to remove those it rejects.
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The source said: “She is crystal clear that people in need of protection should seek asylum in the first safe country they enter”.
