France – immigration

Police arrest 150 migrants in Calais

Article published on the 2009-04-21 Latest update 2009-04-21 10:11 TU

An asylum seeker leaves with rice as others queue,during evening food distribution near the harbour of Calais
( Photo: Reuters )

French police launched a sweep of clandestine migrants in the northern English Channel port of Calais on Tuesday, arresting 150 people, officials said.

Thousands of migrants come to Calais each year seeking to illegally cross the English Channel to Britain.

Three-hundred police officers were involved in Tuesday’s raid, which came two days before Immigration Minister Eric Besson is to visit for talks about the situation.

“It’s an attempt to dismantle people trafficking networks. It’s an operation to destabilise the networks and try to find the smugglers,” a government spokesperson told the AFP news agency.

She said that a security cordon had been established around the camp where most of the migrants are staying.