France tells UK to take MORE Calais migrant children – as they want to live in Britain
FRANCE is piling pressure on Britain to accept more migrants from the Calais Jungle, despite scepticism of the real age of the children coming over.
French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve says the UK should accept more migrants from Calais
French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve wrote a column in the Guardian newspaper telling the UK to face up to its responsibilities and speed up taking in isolated child migrants with family in the UK.
The rant comes as MPs demand migrants classed as children have dentistry checks to confirm their ages. Minors have begun to come over to Britain this week, but they appear to be older than child-age, with some seen with facial hair and even wrinkles.
The race is on for France to settle migrants before the shanty Jungle camp is torn down, proposed to happen before Christmas.
Mr Cazeneuve said: “The French government has decided to demolish the ‘Jungle’ tent camp in Calais. UK and French officials agree that the camp must be torn down because its residents – men, women, and children who, for the most part, have the right to seek asylum – cannot be left out in the cold, surrounded by mud, any longer.”
Mr Cazeneuve said the British government had “promised” to help with the refugee crisis in Calais by taking in hundreds of lone child migrants. He also said the vast majority of Calais minors “wanted to live in the UK, and not in France”.
Minors have begun to come over to Britain this week
He added: “The British government must now intensify its efforts to identity and resettle child migrants.”
The British government must now intensify its efforts to resettle child migrants
Mr Cazeneuve also stressed that the humanitarian operation had to be supported by “long-term measures” aimed at making the French-British border at Calais “impenetrable”.
He warned: “A porous border will only encourage people smugglers to take advantage of yet more desperate Britain-bound immigrants.”
Lord Williams: Child migrants are Britain's responsibility
MPs demand migrants classed as children have dentistry checks to confirm their ages
The interior minister did, however, admit the UK had done a lot to strengthen security around the shared border in Calais.
He also revealed British police officials had helped smash 33 people smuggling rings in France since the start of this year.
There are currently more than 1,300 unaccompanied child migrants living in the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp – which is due to be razed sometime next week –, and about half of them claim to have one or more family members living in the UK.