Xavier Bertrand, the President of the Haut-de-France region, which includes the towns of Calais, Lille and Amiens, has called for major reforms to the management of the border between our two countries. Under his proposals, new ‘hotspots’ would be created where refugees currently living in and around the camp in Calais, known as ‘The Jungle’, could claim asylum to live in the UK. Such a move would effectively end the Treaty of Le Touquet, the agreement whereby border checks and controls are carried out in France, before passengers depart to make the crossing to England. This means that people are currently unable to make an asylum claim until they have reached the UK, and instead are required to do so in France.
The proposal from Mr Bertrand would of course be totally unacceptable to us. In September I will be meeting with him in London, along with other Kent MPs, where I will tell him directly my concerns about his idea. Creating these 'hotspots' would undoubtedly make the situation in Calais worse, as it would attract even more refugees to the camps, in the false hope that they would be able to enter the UK in this way. We would also be perfectly within our rights to decline their asylum application, as they are already in a safe country.
The situation in the Calais Jungle clearly needs to be resolved, and I will be visiting it later in September to see the current conditions there for myself. The camp should be closed down and the refugees have their claims processed as part of an EU wide solution to the migrant crisis. The policy of our government has been to work with the French authorities to improve security at the Calais Port and Channel Tunnel, to make clear to the refugees that there is no easy passage to England. At the same time, we want to encourage more of them to make an asylum claim in France. The government has also agreed that we will give asylum to thousands of refugees from the conflict in Syria, but that these will come directly from the camps being run by the United Nations in close proximity to the war zone. We want to help people in real need, as we have a proud tradition of doing, but equally we don’t want to create a false incentive for people to place their lives in the hands of dangerous people smuggling gangs, in the hope of making the journey across Europe to Britain.
The future of the Calais Jungle camp and our border control arrangements are clearly becoming a hot political issue in the run up to the French Presidential election in May next year. Two of the leading candidates to replace François Hollande; Alain Juppé and Nicolas Sarkozy; have pledged that they will end the Le Touquet treaty if they are elected; and there is a strong chance that one of them will be. It is clear that we will need to make the future of our border with France a major part of our negotiations over leaving the European Union.