French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday visited the Channel port of Calais, which for years has been a magnet for thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East seeking a passage to Britain from makeshift camps set up around the town. While his presence was ostensibly to address the local crisis, Macron’s visit also served as a platform to present his government’s proposed toughening up of immigration laws. But the planned clampdown on so-called economic migrants, who face mass deportations, has met with outrage not only from organisations defending migrants’ rights, but also from Macron’s own allies.
During a visit on Tuesday to the Channel port of Calais, French President Emmanuel Macron defended his government’s planned reform of immigration laws and vowed that the authorities will prevent any attempt to resurrect the infamous and now razed makeshift migrant camp there known as “the Jungle”.
