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Britain wants to bolster Calais border control after migrant melee
By Kylie MacLellan
- Strike halts Channel Tunnel traffic, migrants try to board vehicles
- Marches across continent as Europe divided by migrant question
London: British Prime Minister David Cameron's government is looking at reinforcing its border controls around the French port of Calais after what he said were unacceptable scenes involving illegal migrants trying to reach Britain.
Television footage on Tuesday showed crowds of migrants trying to board and hide in queuing lorries after traffic was halted through the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France due to disruption by striking French ferry workers.
British Home Secretary Theresa May said "a significant number" of migrants had been intercepted by the UK border force and French authorities in the previous 24 hours.
"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 told parliament.
"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," he said.
The British move came as Hungary reversed its decision to suspend a key EU rule on processing asylum claims, a day after its announcement caused concern in Brussels and elsewhere.
"(Foreign) Minister Peter Szijjarto has informed his Austrian counterpart that Hungary was not suspending any rule of the European Union," the foreign ministry said.
Budapest said it had merely requested a period of grace from fellow EU member states to help deal with the tens of thousands of refugees arriving in the country.
The right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban caught Brussels by surprise on Tuesday when it announced it was indefinitely opting out of the so-called Dublin III regulation because of "technical reasons". The provision requires a migrant's asylum claim is processed in the EU country they first arrive in.
"The boat is full," government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs had told Austrian media.
The announcement was the latest in a series of anti-immigration measures in Hungary, which have sparked international outrage.
Last week, the government unveiled plans to build a four-metre-high fence on its border with Serbia to keep out migrants.
Hungary has become a major transit country for refugees attempting to reach wealthy Western countries like Austria and Germany by land rather than sea.
The nation received more asylum-seekers per capita than any other EU country apart from Sweden in 2014, up to nearly 43,000 from just 2000 in 2012.
This year, more than 50,000 migrants tried to cross into Hungary via Serbia between January 1 and May 31 - an 880 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2014, according to new figures by the EU's Frontex border agency.
But human rights groups have rejected the argument put forward by Hungary that it can no longer cope with the numbers of asylum claims returned to Budapest under the Dublin III rule.
"Of the 3000 refugees that came to Germany from Hungary in 2014, Berlin only sent back 42 under the Dublin III agreement," said the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.
Mr Cameron said European Union member states needed to work together to tackle the migrant problem at its source in order to "break the link" between getting in a boat to cross the Mediterranean and getting settlement in Europe.
The British government said it was establishing a 90-strong taskforce, including representatives from the National Crime Agency, Border Force and immigration enforcement, to help gather intelligence on the trafficking gangs and their routes.
Mr Cameron's spokeswoman said about 10 members of the team would be split between Europol in The Hague and an intelligence cell in Sicily, while the rest would be on standby to be sent out to Africa and other countries around the Mediterranean.
The mayor of Calais has criticised the British government for not doing enough to fund security in the port, and said Britain needed to overhaul its generous welfare system and improve identity controls she says make it a magnet for illegal immigrants.
Mr Cameron said Britain had already committed to investing £12 million ($19 million) on bolstering the border and was happy to do more if needed.
"We should work with the French closely, there is no point either side trying to point the finger of blame at each other. This is a strong partnership that we have in place and we should keep it that way," he said.
Reuters, AFP