EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CALAIS-NEWSER France and Britain agree to increase security cooperation at Eurotunnel
Record ID:
143307
EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CALAIS-NEWSER France and Britain agree to increase security cooperation at Eurotunnel
- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CALAIS-NEWSER France and Britain agree to increase security cooperation at Eurotunnel
- Date: 20th August 2015
- Summary: CALAIS, FRANCE (AUGUST 20, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** JOURNALISTS WAITING FOR MINISTERS' ARRIVAL FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BERNARD CAZENEUVE, AND BRITISH HOME SECRETARY, THERESA MAY, SIGNING JOINT DECLARATION, GETTING UP AND EMBRACING SIGN ON DESK READING (French): "MR BERNARD CAZENEUVE, INTERIOR MINISTER" (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BERNARD CAZENEUVE, SAYING: "Today Theresa May and I have decided to increase our cooperation in terms of security, the fight against criminal gangs, and we've also decided to extend our cooperation into new fields including humanitarian aspects of the provision for arriving migrants." MAY AND CAZENEUVE AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH HOME SECRETARY, THERESA MAY, SAYING: "The declaration we have signed between the United Kingdom and France cements the comprehensive programme of work that our two countries have undertaken, and it takes it further by committing the U.K. and France to a thorough security programme in Calais and Coquelles. Combined with the continued unprecedented French police presence in the region, this will include further physical security improvements in and around the tunnel and wider port areas, more CCTV, infrared equipment, flood lighting and fencing and more than 100 additional security guards." MAY AND CAZENEUVE DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH HOME SECRETARY, THERESA MAY, SAYING: "We must also relentlessly pursue and disrupt the callous, criminal gangs that facilitate and profit from the smuggling of vulnerable people, often with the total disregard for their lives. Our two countries have a strong track record in this important work and today we commit to even greater cooperation to combat this organised criminality." MAY AND CAZENEUVE AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BERNARD CAZENEUVE, SAYING: "We have selected from within our services two senior officials whom Theresa and I were able to meet today and who will be in charge of a unified command structure to increase the dismantling of these networks of traffickers." MAY AND CAZENEUVE AT NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 4th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACQEJ2JY6SMEDAQVAG2G1TWIVG
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Britain and France on Thursday (August 20) pledged to step up their efforts to tackle the migrant crisis surrounding Calais, with thousands holed up around the town in makeshift slums.
The numbers of migrants successfully breaching the fences around the Eurotunnel rail link has plummeted in recent weeks as beefed up security makes an impact.
But French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and British Home Secretary Theresa May, on a visit to Calais, vowed to go further.
"Theresa May and I have decided to increase our cooperation in terms of security, the fight against criminal gangs, and we've also decided to extend our cooperation into new fields including humanitarian aspects of the provision for arriving migrants," Cazeneuve told journalists.
The pair visited the Eurotunnel site, met with security officials and inspected the control centre before signing a joint declaration promising to work more closely together.
"The declaration we have signed between the United Kingdom and France cements the comprehensive programme of work that our two countries have undertaken, and it takes it further by committing the U.K. and France to a thorough security programme in Calais and Coquelles," May said.
Along with a promise to maintain the increased police presence, May said there would be more CCTV, infrared equipment and flood lighting and more security guards.
But both ministers were keen to stress the importance of tackling gangs of people smugglers who accept money to bring the migrants, many of whom are refugees, to Europe in the first place.
"We must also relentlessly pursue and disrupt the callous, criminal gangs that facilitate and profit from the smuggling of vulnerable people, often with the total disregard for their lives. Our two countries have a strong track record in this important work and today we commit to even greater cooperation to combat this organised criminality," May said.
A joint command centre would be set up, the Home Office said on Thursday, with a high-ranking official from each country specifically tasked with tackling the gangs.
For Britain and France, Calais is the focus of a wider migration crisis fuelled by conflict, persecution and poverty that has sent hundreds of thousands out of Syria, Libya and other Middle Eastern and African states.
Tens of thousands of migrants are arriving in Italy and Greece each week, while Germany expects the number of asylum applications to quadruple to a record 800,000 this year, the government said on Wednesday. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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