Drones Will Monitor Border In Calais

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Border control officers will now be using drones to monitor the movement of unathorised migrants attempting to cross the English Channel tunnel into the UK, the Mirror reports.

The remote-controlled drones will be deployed in northern France to bolster the 500 fixed cameras already in place. The area is also “ringed by floodlights and two and half miles [4 km] of nine-feet high fencing.”

John Keefe, spokesman for Eurotunnel, the firm charged with operating the tunnel and its services, announced the deployment of an “unspecified number” of drones.

“For obvious security reasons, we are not giving away too many details about the drones. We have carried out tests and placed an order for their delivery, but we are not saying how many or when they will go into service,” Keefe said.

Currently, British border control are situated in Calais. This situation burdens the French town, as Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart recently opined.

“Calais is a hostage to the British. The UK border should be moved from Calais to the English side of the Channel because we’re not here to do their jobs.”

The security arrangements in the town, and specifically at the Eurotunnel site, came under harsh criticism last year when 28 striking French sailors broke into the compound by scaling the fence to then “dismantle the rails used by Le Shuttle trains between France and the UK.”

Union official Eric Vercoutre said following the incident that “The security there is like a sieve. It’s a joke. I strolled into the tunnel in my flip-flops.”

The UK has been looking into strengthening security on the French side since then, and the new drones come as part of a push to do just that.