During the EP Plenary session (03-06/10) in Strasbourg, MEPs debate&nbsp;on the Situation in Calais. Statements by Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Fran&ccedil;oise GROSSET&Ecirc;TE (EPP, FR), Giovanni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT), Peter van DALEN (ECR, NL), Nathalie GRIESBECK (ALDE, FR), Marie-Christine VERGIAT (GUE/NGL, FR), Jean LAMBERT (Greens/EFA, UK), and Mike HOOKEM (EFDD, UK).

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

PITTELLA, Gianni (S&D, IT)

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

van DALEN, Peter (EPP, NL)

LAMBERT, Jean (Greens/EFA, UK)

VERGIAT, Marie-Christine (GUE/NGL, FR)

GRIESBECK, Nathalie (ALDE, FR)

AVRAMOPOULOS, Dimitris (EL, EC)

GROSSETÊTE, Françoise (EPP, FR)

refugee settlement

HOOKEM, Mike (NI, UK)

Calais

Situation in Calais: extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE (French), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, We&rsquo;ve been informed by the Eurotunnel that in relation to the first half of 2015, there is been a reduction of 43% in the number of freight trains and the quantity of freight being transported compared to the first 2 quarters of 2016. So we are continuing to work with all stake holders on two aspects: one, making the transport of goods and passengers safe and also managing the humanitarian situation.

SOUNDBITE (French), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, The clandestine passengers are present in the parking lots for the trucks, sometimes at 100 km from Calais. The Commission is preparing proposals for the working conditions of road transports in order to give more security to vehicles against this type of intrusion.

SOUNDBITE (French), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, The Commission does congratulate the French government for its intention to dismantle the &lsquo;jungle of Calais&rsquo; by the end of the year. We are convince that it will contribute to improving living conditions and in trying to improve this difficult situation, particularly for unaccompanied minors living in Calais.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fran&#231;oise GROSSET&#202;TE (EPP, FR), I&rsquo;m shocked by seeing that the only answer is to build a wall paid by the UK and accepted by the French government. What kind of confession of paralysis is this, when we see everywhere around Europe walls growing up? And what kind of smoke screen! Because the UK never assumed its responsibilities here, and that includes the number of unaccompanied minors awaiting in Calais to reunite with their families. In these conditions I have to say that the Touquet agreements need to be renegotiated.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Giovanni PITTELLA (S&amp;D, IT), This support cannot be simply at the expense of the poorest; the Pas-de Calais is one of the poorest departments in France. So there is need to share the asylum seekers out and around France and Europe. We are talking about 0.01% of the French population.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Peter van DALEN (ECR, NL), We have to bring an end to the years of vital chats of French ministers who say how serious the situation is and how &lsquo;we are going to bring it to an end&rsquo;... we cannot go on like this; so Commissioner, you now have the responsibility of ensuring that people move from words to action. We heard about tis in Rotterdam, people want to see action, they won&rsquo;t wait to spring 2017, before January we want to see first steps towards results with a high level conference.

SOUNDBITE (French), Nathalie GRIESBECK (ALDE, FR), Beyond the polemics and all these tragic situations there are three things that should be done immediately for these children. First, to register all these children who arrive in Calais and the cities around, secondly to guarantee access to specific information in their language and adapted to their age on the right to request asylum with the Dublin reform and also on family reunification procedures. And thirdly, to have a welcome and sheltering for unaccompanied minors not to leave them in the hands of human traffickers and criminal networks.

SOUNDBITE (French), Marie-Christine VERGIAT (GUE/NGL, FR), Security policy has a cost: one policeman to every five migrants in Calais. How many personnel for dealing with the sheltering policies? It&rsquo;s time that we start to act in terms of the dignity and the rights of the people in Calais because they have nowhere else to go.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jean LAMBERT (Greens/EFA, UK), It&rsquo;s a long standing history of French failure to deliver effectively on its obligations aided and abetted by UK government that we know drags its heels to deliver safety and security, even to children who are clearly entitled to be in the UK.

SOUNDBITE (English), Mike HOOKEM (EFDD, UK), Closing the &lsquo;jungle&rsquo; will not stop the crisis, it will just move it along the coast to smaller ports, places where I personally witnessed criminal gangs in action.