UK to build southern ‘big, new wall’ at Calais for £1.9m

Migrants at Calais - PA

Britain is to build “a big, new wall” in Calais in a bid to prevent refugees and migrants looking to cross the Channel, a government minister has said.

The one kilometre long, 13ft high barrier is part of a multi-million pound package of joint measures by the UK and France to tighten security at the French port.

Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill told MPs yesterday: “We are going to start building this big, new wall as part of the £17m package we are doing with the French.

“There is still more to do. We have also invested in space for 200 lorries at Calais so that they have somewhere safe to wait.”

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He added: “The security that we are putting in at the port is being stepped up with better equipment.

“We are going to start building this big new wall very soon. We’ve done the fence, now we are doing a wall.”

Construction of the wall is expected to begin this month and cost around £1.9m.

It would be located on either side of the main dual carriageway to the ferry port, as part of measures to prevent people trying to stop traffic and climb into lorries.

This comes after lorry drivers, shopkeepers, farmers and police officers took part in a blockade of the main motorway in Calais, calling for the camp to be demolished amid mounting security concerns.

The Road Haulage Association said the wall would not be the solution to the problems around the camp.

“It is imperative that the money to pay for a wall would be much better spent on increasing security along approach roads,” a spokesman said.

François Guennoc of Auberge des Migrants, a French aid group working in Calais, told The Guardian: “This wall is the latest extension to kilometres of fencing and security surveillance already in place. It will just result in people going further to get round it. 

“When you put walls up anywhere in the world, people find ways to go round them. It’s a waste of money. It could make it more dangerous for people, it will push up tariffs for people smugglers and people will end up taking more risks.”