French Police Want British Army's Help In Migrant Crisis

Police in Calais, France, supported calls for the British army to assist in curtailing its migrant crisis. An increasing number of migrants have begun attempting to pass through France to Britain by boarding trains or trucks set to go through the Channel Tunnel.

Calais is about 30 miles from the United Kingdom, separated by the English Channel. Bruno Noel, head of the Alliance Police Union deployed at Calais' port and Eurotunnel site where many migrants attempt to enter Britain, said police are understaffed and the situation could soon be impossible to manage, the Telegraph reported.

“We have only 15 permanent French border police at the Eurotunnel site," Noel said, according to Telegraph. "Can you imagine how derisory this is given the situation? So I say, why not bring in the British army, and let them work together with the French?”

Kevin Hurley of the Surrey, England, police and crime commission first suggested sending in British forces to Calais, to which the English Ministry of Defense responded by saying it was not a military matter. Nigel Farage, leader of the U.K. Independence Party, has suggested sending over the British army to Calais to inspect trains entering the country, calling the situation in French city, "virtually lawless," the Telegraph said.

The suggestion was not well received in France, critics calling it a "non-starter" because it would be a shot to national pride, the Telegraph reported. France recaptured the port city from Britain's monarchy in 1558. But Noel, 40, disagreed with critics, saying the past two months -- the last two weeks especially -- have been challenging for police attempting to keep an increasing number of migrants from entering Britain.

Large numbers of migrants -- men, women and children -- from countries including Sudan, Eritrea and Afghanistan, attempt nightly to go from a migrant camp in Calais to the Eurotunnel site. The migrant camp, often called "The Jungle," reportedly has terrible conditions. Often already-injured and travel-weary migrants live in makeshift homes surrounded by rotting garbage in a camp with an estimated 3,000 people, CNN reported. "No one comes to Calais because they want Calais," said Khan, a Pakistani man in the camp, according to CNN. "Everyone here wants England."

Romain Bellina-Fages, a member of France's anti-riot force, said he was part of a team that stopped some 2,000 migrants from storming the Eurotunnel site last Tuesday, the Telegraph reported. He told the outlet the job is getting more difficult every day.

Despite the panic of the migrant crisis in Calais, Britain sees just 4 percent of total asylum seekers in Europe, the Independent reported. That pegs the country at No. 7 for asylum claims, behind countries like Germany, Hungary and Italy.