World
Scores of illegal migrants in the French port of Calais have tried to force their way onto a ferry bound for England, officials and witnesses say. The BBC reports:
Passenger John Bailey told the BBC that the migrants tried to get access to the vessel by running up the main ramp. But he said they were prevented from gaining entry when the crew raised the ramp and turned a fire hose on them.
On Tuesday the mayor of Calais said she would blockade the port unless Britain helped to control the migrants.
Natacha Bouchart said that her city was being "taken hostage" by more than 1,000 migrants attempting to cross the English Channel from France.
The mayor of Calais has threatened to blockade the northern French ferry port if Britain fails to provide more financial support to tackle thousands of migrants seeking to reach the U.K. illegally. The Telegraph writes:
Nathalie Bouchart, the centre-Right Calais mayor, said she may order such “illegal” action unless Britain makes a “strong response” to help deal with a rising tide of migrants from war-torn countries including Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Afghanistan who sleep rough and try nightly to stow away in lorries and ferries.
These still view Britain as an “Eldorado”, she insisted. The migrant issue costs Calais 10 million euros per year, the mayor claimed. “I can take the decision to block the port. I have ways of exerting pressure,” Miss Bouchart said after a meeting with Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior minister on Tuesday night in which both agreed to open a new day centre for all migrants and a night shelter for migrant women and children.
“(A blockade) would be illegal, but I want a strong response today from the British,” said Miss Bouchart, who accused the Conservative Government of demanding tough security in the port while washing its hands financially.
