Calais crisis: UK reinforces border controls to prevent illegal migrants

The UK has recently reinforced its border controls around the French port of Calais to curb the illegal entry of migrants. An average of 2,000 migrants from the Middle East and African countries have entered the UK every day through the Channel Tunnel linking Britain and France in recent months. The migrants – mainly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan – often gather at a stopping point called The Jungle, a makeshift campsite near the port, before risking their lives to get on the running trains and trucks headed to the UK.

The number of daily entries has been reduced to 150, according to the tunnel administrators, after the UK government put up three-meter-high barbed-wire fences and strengthened the police force in the area. Searchlights and security cameras have also been increased along the border to prevent illegal entries. The UK government has spent about £7m ($10.8m) in reinforcing the border fences. Other measures, including tightening the house-renting system, are also being taken to avoid the settlement of the illegal migrants.

Nearly 340,000 migrants and asylum seekers had illegally crossed the border into Europe from January to July 2015, according to the EU's border agency, Frontex. Around 2,500 people have died so far while crossing the Mediterranean.