Britain is to build a “big new wall” at Calais as part of security efforts at the French port, a British government minister has confirmed.
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Speaking to the Home Affairs Committee of MPs on Tuesday, Mr Goodwill said: “The security that we are putting in at the port is being stepped up with better equipment”.
According to reports, the new wall will cost 2 million pounds ($2.6 million) to build, a cost that will be covered by Britain. “We’ve done the fence, now we’re doing the wall”.
The 4 metre concrete wall, stretching at least 1km, will cost £1.9m and will be built along both sides of the dual carriageway to the port and will be constructed in a way that makes it hard to climb.
The chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, Richard Burnett said around 200 French farmers would join lorries and tractors at Dunkirk – north of Calais – and Boulougne to the south at 7.30am local time (6.30am BST).
“This will bring yet further misery to hauliers bound for mainland Europe and of course for the people and businesses of Kent”, he said.
“I heard a story this morning of even a vehicle being dumped in front of a truck to bring it to a stop so that migrants could attempt to get into the back”.
A document shown at a public meeting organized by the Port of Calais on July 6 showed the wall would be made of smooth concrete to make it harder to scale, but lined with plants and vegetation on the inside to minimize the visual impact.
The project has already been dubbed the “Great Wall of Calais” by the Daily Mail.
The wall in Calais was agreed following tens of thousands of attempted Channel crossings past year by migrants sneaking onto lorries boarding ferries and the Eurotunnel.
The leader of this group argues the money will be spent on the construction of the wall “could be better used to strengthen security along the access roads”.
The wall comes just months after Brexit, when Britons voted to leave the European Union, partly to regain independent control of migration into their country. Aid groups warned that the wall will not deter people from attempting to enter the United Kingdom – it will likely force them to take more unsafe routes, making a bad problem worse.
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He added that the effort, which he deemed to be a “waste of money”, will “make it more risky for people, it will push up tariffs for people smugglers and people will end up taking more risks”.
