INVASION OF EUROPE: Migrant Crisis Grows at U.K.-France Crossing

1,500 migrants make desperate bid to cross to U.K.

Atick Uriaghir bloodied his hands climbing over the barbed wire fence surrounding the Eurotunnel terminal before police caught him and turned him away.

But the 14-year-old migrant from Afghanistan said neither injuries nor the threat of getting caught will stop him from trying again. Since he arrived alone a month ago, the black-haired teenager with fuzz for a mustache has spent nearly every night trying to stow away on a train to the U.K.

“Here, no one looks after me,” the teenager said. “In the U.K., I can be a big man.”

The Afghan teenager was one of more than 1,500 migrants who attempted in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday to enter the terminal of a railway tunnel linking France to the U.K., according to French police, the second night of mass efforts to breach the facility.

Police ward off migrants looking to gain access 
to the tunnel. Jean-Pierre Brunet/Zuma Press

The number of migrants in Calais has swollen amid a sharp increase in Sudanese, Syrians, Eritreans and Ethiopians fleeing conflict zones hoping to reach a better life in the U.K.

The appeal of crossing the channel is strong. The U.K. has rapid growth, with jobs are easier to find. Language is another draw: most of those seeking to get to the U.K. speak at least some English.

Migrants step over the fence as they try to catch a train 
to reach the U.K. Yoan Valat/European Pressphoto Agency

But the crisis has now reached unprecedented levels, with more than 3,000 migrants in the French port town of Calais, marking an escalating humanitarian crisis with migrants gathered in makeshift, squalid camps.

“Stopping them is becoming very difficult since they’re just not afraid of the police anymore,” a French police officer said.

A Eurotunnel security car follows a group of migrants 
in Calais early Wednesday morning. Photo: AP

The situation has become particularly acute in recent weeks at the train terminal operated by Groupe Eurotunnel SA, the Franco-British company that runs the tunnel under the English Channel, as striking ferry workers have made it harder for migrants to cross by boat. Some have also been trying to get through the border before additional security measures that have been pledged are put into place, according to the British government.

The migrants have adjusted their tactics. Many had tried to stow away on trucks on the highways leading to the tunnel. Now, they are attempting to breach the Eurotunnel terminal and hop directly onto the shuttle that carries those trucks and other vehicles by rail through the tunnel.

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