Cameron: Britain Not a ‘Safe Haven’ for Migrants
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, July 30 (UPI) — British Prime Minister David Cameron attempted to dissuade illegal migration after continued attempts by hundreds to leave France for Britain.
Speaking Friday in Vietnam on a tour of southeast Asia, Cameron acknowledged a “swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean (Sea), seeking a better life,” but added Britain would remove illegal immigrants “so people know it’s not a safe haven.”
France has sent 120 police officers to Calais and 300 people have been detained by police, and Eurotunnel, manager of the train service, has requested 9.7 million Euros ($10.6 million) from the British and French governments to cover extra security costs.
Zoe Gardner of Asylum aid, a British non-governmental organization, decried Cameron’s use of the term “swarm” to describe the immigrants as “irresponsible, dehumanizing language,” adding, “It’s absolutely disgraceful. We need far more political courage and foresight.”
Conservative Parliament member David Davies suggested the British army be sent to Calais, and suggested camps be built in migrants’ home countries so they could be “sent back in a kind and humane fashion.”
Peter Sutherland of the United Nations called British demands to keep migrants out “a xenophobic response to the issue of free movement. The debate in the U.K. is grossly excessive in terms of Calais.”
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