June 28, 2015 6:37 pm
Britain is deploying high-security fencing used during the Olympic Games and last year’s Nato summit in Wales to the Channel tunnel port in France to stop illegal migrants breaking into lorries bound for the UK.
James Brokenshire, immigration minister, announced on Sunday that two and a half miles of 9ft fencing — known as the National Barrier Asset — would be erected at the lorry terminal in Coquelles, near Calais. It should be in place by the end of July.
The fence is one element of a broader push to step up border security between northern France and the UK amid a growing migrant crisis in the area. Government officials said Britain had been in discussions with the French about providing the extra fencing in and around Calais.
A strike by French ferry workers last week sparked chaos in Calais and Coquelles as hundreds of migrants hoping to reach the UK took advantage of the disruption to try to break into lorries stuck in queues.
More than 3,000 people, predominantly from Africa and the Middle East, are estimated to be living rough around Calais, waiting for a chance to cross into the UK.
In the year to April, border authorities stopped 39,000 attempts by illegal migrants trying to cross the Channel, more than double the amount in the previous year.
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence party, called on the government to “get tough and defend our borders properly” in a newspaper article on Sunday. “We must put in place a checking system at Dover for every car and lorry coming into the UK,” he said. “The utopian dream of free movement has hit the buffers.”
The additional fencing comes after Mr Brokenshire last week announced more resources for screening arrivals at Dover, as well as a 90-strong task force to tackle organised immigration crime in the Mediterranean. He will also meet the haulage industry this week to discuss their concerns.
“We need to send a very clear message that people will not be able to get through.” Theresa May, home secretary, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“James Brokenshire will be meeting with hauliers again this week to talk further about steps that can be taken to enhance security, to ensure that people aren’t able to get into the lorries in the first place.”
The home secretary also announced on Sunday that the government was dispatching a medial liaison team and a security team to Tunisia to assessed the condition of British tourists injured in a terrorist attack on a beach resort on Friday and assess the need for extra security around tourist resorts in Tunisia.