Calais chaos: More fences and sniffer dogs planned to combat migrants

Britain is considering increasing its security presence around the port of Calais after hundreds of migrants tried to board truckers’ vehicles during a strike. Prime Minister David Cameron said the scenes of chaos, which saw migrants breaking into the back of lorries or trying to climb into cabs, were “totally unacceptable”. The lorries had been forced to queue around Calais after traffic across the Channel was disrupted by striking French ferry workers. Mr Cameron said, however, fingerprinting and documenting of migrants needed “to happen in Italy”, where the migrants first land after a dangerous journey from North Africa.

We have been looking at whether we can put more personnel and indeed sniffer dog teams on that side of the channel to make a difference.

Mr Cameron

French authorities have drafted extra police officers into Calais, while security was also stepped up in Dover to check vehicles as they arrived. Local politicians in Calais have accused the UK government of not doing enough to help them tackle the crisis. But Mr Cameron said Britain had already invested £12m on bolstering the border and was happy to do more if needed. There was no point in either country "trying to point the finger of blame at each other”, he added. Services have resumed at Calais after French ferry workers ended their strike action. Eurostar services also resumed after scores of trains were cancelled on Tuesday, although some travellers were still stranded at St Pancras station in London.

There is also more work being done in terms of installing fencing not just around the port at Calais but also around the Eurostar and Eurotunnel entrance.

David Cameron

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