Eight people arrested in Calais over the storming of a ferry bound for Britain are to face immediate trial for boarding the ship illegally, reports The Telegraph.
Legal sources said six migrants and two activists from the left-wing group No Borders face a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a fine of more than 3,750 euros if convicted.
Contrary to earlier reports a regional police spokesman confirmed none of those arrested was British.
However, several detainees were understood to be refusing to give police their nationalities or names.
The eight were among a group of about 50 who stormed on board the P&O ferry, the Spirit of Britain, on Saturday after about 350 people broke through police lines and invaded the port of Calais, forcing it to close for several hours.
The incident prompted renewed calls from the mayor of Calais and the head of the port for the demolition of the nearby “Jungle” camp.
Masked British agitators from the No Borders group incited migrants to invade the port after the peaceful demonstration, local sources said.
They were later photographed on the deck of the ferry.
Nine of those arrested were members of No Borders, the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said in a statement.
He added the government was “fully determined to maintain public order in Calais, in the face of the migration situation”.
“I cannot understand why British citizens come to Calais to incite migrants to break the law and defy the French authorities,” Gilles Debove of the Calais police union said
Demonstrators also defaced a statue of France’s wartime leader and former president, Charles de Gaulle, daubing it with graffiti which read “**** France”. It was quickly scrubbed off by port officials.
The mayor, Natacha Bouchart, said the “disgraceful” incident highlighted the need to send the army to Calais.
“We’ve been asking for months for the camp to be dismantled,” she said.
“We are living in a state of emergency.
"We don’t know who are among all these people [the migrants]. We don’t know what their intentions are.
"We must review the entire [port's] security system.
"This is a time of extreme tension for the people of Calais and it must end.”
Xavier Bertrand, the president of the French region which covers Calais, said: “The attitude of No Borders in Calais is scandalous – there must be punishment.”
Mr Bertrand added on Twitter: “I demand that the government urgently hold a crisis meeting.”
The head of the Calais port council, Jean-Marc Puissesseau, said the situation in Calais had become intolerable: “It is becoming unmanageable and it is necessary to clear the camp.”
Mrs Bouchart and Mr Puissesseau were expected to join a rally on Sunday afternoon by Calais residents to demand government action to end continual confrontations with migrants at the port.
“This is harming our economy and we demand that the government compensate us,” Mrs Bouchart said.
“It is not an anti-migrant demonstration, the idea is to present a positive image of Calais.”