In the beautiful French port city of Calais at this time, everyone who comes here has mixed feelings, the truck drivers passing by are bored, the millions of tourists are not very enthusiastic and the migrants flooding here have only one concern: to go to England.
Never before has it happened that almost everyone who comes to Calais, the French territory that contains one end of the Channel Tunnel, has the sole thought of leaving for the "foggy country".
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| Police chase illegal immigrants trying to reach the Channel Tunnel. |
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| A mother with a baby on her back is waiting for the moment to cross the border to England. |
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| Migrants attempt to break into the Channel Tunnel. |
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| Migrants walk along the road leading to the Channel Tunnel as police keep a close watch. |
Calais, a place mentioned in the works of Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo, is a tourist hub linked to the tumultuous relationship between England and France, and is always a warm welcome for visitors who flock to it by ferry, train and busy motorway.
But in recent days, tourists seem to be looking elsewhere as they feel uneasy about their picnic being interrupted by migrants trying to cross the border into the UK.
City leaders blame their British neighbours for making Cailais a magnet for migrants. The mayor has said she will seek hundreds of millions of euros in compensation for the damage.
Kevin Westhead, a British lorry driver who regularly travels through the Channel Tunnel, said his journeys were often interrupted by his vehicle being forced to stand still and unable to move as authorities searched for illegal “hitchhikers” trying to reach the UK.
For thousands of migrants, Calais is the last stop before reaching Britain on a perilous journey that has already seen them cross chaotic Libya and a dangerous sea voyage across the Mediterranean Sea to reach the “old continent”.
There are refugee camps in Calais and the area has expanded since the 2002 events when the gathering place for thousands of migrants in nearby Sangatte was closed.
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| Migrants at the Calais refugee camp wait to charge their phones. |
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| The area was created by migrants as a place of prayer for Muslims. |
Natacha Bouchart, the mayor of Calais, has asked the French government to set up a relief centre on the outskirts of the city to ease congestion in the inner city. Deputy mayor Emmanuel Agius said: “This situation is having a serious impact on the economy of Calais, especially tourism.”
Calais, a city of 75,000 people, has many elements that make it a tourist attraction, such as the Opal beach or the red-walled town hall with its clock tower, which has become a UNESCO heritage site, and the famous “Calais people” statue by sculptor Auguste Rodin in the central square.
Mayor Bouchart is calling for a meeting between herself and the British and French prime ministers by the end of the summer in the hope of securing compensation for the city's losses. In interviews with local media, she estimated that the port city would receive 50 million euros in compensation.
Calais has a turbulent history, having been under English control for two centuries from 1347 during the Hundred Years War. The 21st-century city of Calais is a major tourist destination for British tourists, who make up 20-25% of visitors. However, tourist numbers have plummeted to just 8% in June.
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| Migrants wait in line to receive free food. |
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| Simple shelter for migrants. |
According to VNA/baotintuc.vn
