People face off with drivers and gendarmes in attempts to board lorries en route to UK as industrial action creates huge lines of trucks entering port.
Migrants and police were engaged in an uneasy standoff on the motorways around Calais on Wednesday, as groups of young men tried to exploit the continuing disruption to climb on trucks bound for the UK.
Several hundred lorries were still queueing on the main roads leading to the ferry port and Eurotunnel, following Tuesday’s strike by French ferry workers.
On the motorway above the main migrant camp – home to 3,000 people – there were regular skirmishes in the afternoon. Each time a queue of lorries formed, the migrants – many of whom have fled war and persecution in the Middle East and east Africa – abandoned what they were doing and ran up the bank to try and break into them.
French police tried to stop them and at one point officers drew their batons and hit out at a group of young men before using pepper spray on them.
Watching from the edge of the camp, Teddy, 20, from Eritrea said it had been a very difficult 24 hours. Lots and lots of people have been trying because of the lorry queues and some of them have made it, but it is very dangerous. The police have been very aggressive and many people have been injured trying to jump on the underside of lorries.
An Afghan man nearby held out his injured hand and said a police dog bit him last night. Are there any doctors? he asked. Many people have been hurt but what else to do? We have to keep trying because this is no place to stay.
In the UK, the home secretary, Theresa May, said British and French authorities had stopped significant numbers of migrants climbing aboard lorries in Calais and entering the UK in the last two days. She said the UK border force had put in place tried and tested contingency plans to deal with chaotic scenes that led to the Channel tunnel being closed.
David Cameron moved to ease tensions with France over the migrant crisis in Calais, calling for an end to the finger pointing over who is to blame and signalling that Britain is prepared to contribute more resources if necessary. The prime minister described totally unacceptable scenes in Calais.
Asked what Britain was planning to do about the crisis, Cameron said it must work more closely with the French, tackle the people-smuggling gangs in north Africa and do more to make the UK a less attractive place for migrants.
The mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart, told French radio on Tuesday that Britain had “not offered a penny to help the authorities in Calais ease the pressure caused by the increasing number of migrants arriving in the town, as they attempt to travel to Britain.
But Cameron, speaking in the House of Commons on Wednesday, struck a conciliatory tone. “This is a strong partnership that we have in place and we should keep it that way.
He said the UK would provide more security assistance to French authorities if necessary, including sending more personnel and sniffer dog teams. He also said more needed to be done with other EU countries to prevent migrants from attempting the journey to Europe in the first place. “Thirdly, we’ve got to do more to make sure Britain is a less easy place for illegal migrants to come to and work in. That’s what our immigration bill is all about.
The heightened diplomatic tension came amid disruption caused by striking employees of the French firm MyFerryLink, whose industrial action forced the closure of the Channel tunnel and led to the cancellation of train and ferry services. Travel chaos was subsiding on Wednesday as cross-Channel services resumed but authorities in Calais continued to grapple with desperate migrants seeking to take advantage of the disruption.
One group of young men – some as young as 15 – were chased away by a lorry driver as they tried to break into hisvehicle. This is terrible, worse than it’s ever been, said the driver from Poland, as the queue inched forward. It has been like this all night, it has been very difficult.
Another migrant managed to break the cord on the back of a nearby truck and was trying to clamber on board before he was confronted by the French driver. Neither man wanted to talk. A 17-year-old Eritrean man sitting by the side of the motorway slip road said he and his friends had been up all night trying to get into lorries bound for the UK. Many people have been trying, but it is very difficult. We are very tired now.
Emmanuel Agius, a deputy at Calais town hall, claimed that the British PM was in danger of sparking a diplomatic incident. David Cameron says he does not want these migrants, he doesn’t want to take responsibility but the UK is part of the EU and it cannot continue to try and play two roles.
It is not acceptable to say: we are insular, we are an island and we will only be part of Europe how and when we want – you Europeans just deal with it. That is too easy. If he continues to speak in that way then he is in danger of creating a diplomatic incident.
For there to be a lasting solution to the crisis Europe had to work together, and that included the UK, Agius added. If the UK and Mr Cameron want to leave Europe, then at least the situation would be clear and precise and in that case the British could have their border back in the UK instead of here in Calais, he said.
Agius said migrants have one idea in their heads and that is to cross the 30km to Dover for a better life in the UK. He said the UK needs to stop ignoring that reality and take responsibility.
Additional reporting by Kim Willsher in Paris