Calais.....send in the army?

liftmaster · 16/07/15 - 07:42

More problems in Calais yesterday as migrants got to the tunnels at Coquelles once again.

With the agreement of France, the British army should guard the tunnels, bring in a 1 mile exclusion zone. The French police obviously don't care, where I think the British would do their job more thoroughly.

Jakobjoe · 16/07/15 - 07:47

the way calais is now .....yes. id also have an exclusion zone of 25 miles not one mile around the english channel french ports and any illegal migrants found inside it would be deported. maybe we need donald trump or the australian gov to have a word with the uk and french governments about border policing

*animasana* · 16/07/15 - 07:54

I've thought that for ages, and can't understand why it hasn't happened yet.

The military should be deployed there, if only as an interim measure, whilst the powers that be get their fingers out of their butts and actually do something to resolve this rapidly-escalating crisis.

liftmaster · 16/07/15 - 07:58

is it not simple to do?

MAW · 16/07/15 - 08:02

Deploying the army on home soil is bad enough, I can't see the French standing for it, they're a proud nation. Not to mention that the Army, whilst they may be good at doing as they are told, hate 'limited force' operations. Can they shoot these migrants? Doesn't seem like the right thing to do to me. If the answer to that question is 'no' then it's a police/security job, not one for soldiers.

Jane Doh! · 16/07/15 - 08:08

liftmaster wrote: »

More problems in Calais yesterday as migrants got to the tunnels at Coquelles once again.

With the agreement of France, the British army should guard the tunnels, bring in a 1 mile exclusion zone. The French police obviously don't care, where I think the British would do their job more thoroughly.

Do the French not have an army of their own?

liftmaster · 16/07/15 - 08:09

MAW wrote: »

Deploying the army on home soil is bad enough, I can't see the French standing for it, they're a proud nation. Not to mention that the Army, whilst they may be good at doing as they are told, hate 'limited force' operations. Can they shoot these migrants? Doesn't seem like the right thing to do to me. If the answer to that question is 'no' then it's a police/security job, not one for soldiers.

I think for a lot of soldiers the majority of their time is spent in limited force situations.

But if this stops the problem until a more permanent solution is found, then that's their job.

Jane Doh! · 16/07/15 - 08:14

liftmaster wrote: »

I think for a lot of soldiers the majority of their time is spent in limited force situations.

But if this stops the problem until a more permanent solution is found, then that's their job.

Why is it their job?

CherylFan · 16/07/15 - 08:14

The French have no interest in resolving Calais because it's all about people wanting to get to Britain. Simple.

Jane Doh! · 16/07/15 - 08:15

CherylFan wrote: »

The French have no interest in resolving Calais because it's all about people wanting to get to Britain. Simple.

Passing the buck to us.

Tony Richards · 16/07/15 - 08:19

The only way to begin to solve the problem is to make the UK very unattractive to these people: at the moment we seem the most attractive country to come to.

MAW · 16/07/15 - 08:20

Jane Doh! wrote: »

Passing the buck to us.

Im not sure about that. The French dont like it, the migrants shouldnt be in France at all. I got chatting to a few Frenchmen a week or so ago, they were in favour of sending them back to Italy, and closing the border there. They dont like Schengen, they admire us for holding out. As for the authorities in Calais, theyre simply swamped, and need more help from Paris.

MAW · 16/07/15 - 08:22

Tony Richards wrote: »

The only way to begin to solve the problem is to make the UK very unattractive to these people: at the moment we seem the most attractive country to come to.

This is odd, because we are really not. The free handouts are better elsewhere. But i think us Brits are more accepting of immigrants, grudgingly or not, and less racist than most.

liftmaster · 16/07/15 - 08:26

Jane Doh! wrote: »

Why is it their job?

I meant that it may be a crap job, but if required to do it, they have to do it.

[Deleted User] · 16/07/15 - 08:31

Tony Richards wrote: »

The only way to begin to solve the problem is to make the UK very unattractive to these people: at the moment we seem the most attractive country to come to.

In what way are we attractive?

Sport1 · 16/07/15 - 08:33

liftmaster wrote: »

I meant that it may be a crap job, but if required to do it, they have to do it.

They don't have to do it. It isn't the job of the army, they are not the police.

[Deleted User] · 16/07/15 - 08:34

Sport1 wrote: »

They don't have to do it. It isn't the job of the army, they are not the police.

If they're required to do it, then yes, it would be their job.

Jane Doh! · 16/07/15 - 08:36

liftmaster wrote: »

I meant that it may be a crap job, but if required to do it, they have to do it.

So the French don't have an army of their own?

idlewilde · 16/07/15 - 08:40

The simplest solution is to build a large "U" bend structure at our end of the tunnel that can be closed when migrants are coming, causing them to go right around it unawares and back to France again.

anne_666 · 16/07/15 - 08:41

Tony Richards wrote: »

The only way to begin to solve the problem is to make the UK very unattractive to these people: at the moment we seem the most attractive country to come to.

No we're not. We're 5th most popular.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/two-graphs-that-show-how-many-asylum-seekers-britain-really-accepts-10246302.html

The main problem seems to be too much traffic/insufficient security checks once vehicles are within the juxtaposed ports, which is being addressed along with other issues. No we should not send in our army.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretary-statement-on-illegal-immigration-in-calais

Since November 2014, we have committed to investing £12 million of which £6 million has already been spent to reinforce security at our juxtaposed ports in Northern France. This includes new fencing to secure the approaches to the port of Calais and joint work to improve traffic flow through the port and Border Force controls, so that more tourist vehicles can queue within the secure environment of the port. This work is due to be completed at the end of this month. In addition, we have funded a £2 million upgrade of detection technology and boosted our dog searching capability by another £1 million.

We have also provided funding for additional fencing to help secure approaches to the Channel Tunnel at Coquelles, where repeated incursions have taken place over the last few weeks. This work, which we announced last week, has already begun and is also due to finish by the end of this month.

So today I can announce the creation of a new secure zone at the port of Calais for UK-bound lorries. This will provide a secure waiting area for 230 vehicles – the equivalent of removing a two-and-a-half mile queue from the approaching road. This should transform protection for lorries and their drivers – removing them from the open road where they can become targets for migrants attempting to board their vehicles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33267137

French police have been widely criticised for taking migrants off lorries, driving them a few miles away then releasing them - free to walk back to Calais.
But many undocumented migrants are arrested - reportedly more than 18,000 in the first half of 2015.
The problem, police say, is that there are simply too many to arrest and deal with.
They also say their focus on the motorway is safety, so getting people off the road is the priority.

MAW · 16/07/15 - 08:41

Jane Doh! wrote: »

So the French don't have an army of their own?

I'd have thought the CRS, the Parisian riot police, would be the men for the job. Right up their street.

Jane Doh! · 16/07/15 - 08:45

idlewilde wrote: »

The simplest solution is to build a large "U" bend structure at our end of the tunnel that can be closed when migrants are coming, causing them to go right around it unawares and back to France again.

MAW wrote: »

Id have thought the CRS, the Paisian riot police, would be the men for the job. Right up their street.

Exactly. French territory so the French have jurisdiction. We join in when they are on our soil. Not sure why the OP is ignoring a simple question.

MAW · 16/07/15 - 08:47

idlewilde wrote: »

The simplest solution is to build a large "U" bend structure at our end of the tunnel that can be closed when migrants are coming, causing them to go right around it unawares and back to France again.

A U bend, you say. Surely that should send them to Flushing, rather than back to France?

[Deleted User] · 16/07/15 - 08:50

With all this hysteria going on, has anyone seen accurate figures showing how many people successfully sneak into the tunnel and make their way into the UK?

[Deleted User] · 16/07/15 - 08:55

Jane Doh! wrote: »

Exactly. French territory so the French have jurisdiction. We join in when they are on our soil. Not sure why the OP is ignoring a simple question.

Not entirely accurate. The UK does have some jurisdiction given our Border Agency has a presence in Coquelles.

tim59 · 16/07/15 - 08:57

Send armed troups into Calais, french soil i dont think the french government or french people would take very kindly to that some how. Unless invited by the french government it would be a complete no no. The army could do no more than any police force anyway.

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