Calais crisis: UK and France set to agree strategy today

Reuters

A strategy to tackle the migrant crisis in Calais is set to be agreed by the UK and France today.

Home Secretary Theresa May will join her French counterpart, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, at Coquelles on the edges of Calais to discuss a deal. Insiders expect it will include tighter security measures.

They will also meet with aid associations to discuss humanitarian support for the migrants.

This summer thousands of migrants have attempted to travel to the UK through the Channel Tunnel from makeshift camps around Calais.

Earlier this month, the UK pledged to add €10m (£7m) to a fund desginated to secure the port of Calais. The fund was established in September 2014 and was initially granted €15m (£10.5m) over three years.

Today's meeting comes after officials said yesterday that the number of migrants arriving at the EU's borders is at a record high. Germany has seen a surge in migration from Syria as people flee ISIS. The German government now expects to receive up to 750,000 asylum seekers this year.

Last year the UK received 31,400 asylum applications, the majority of which were refused.