French police are losing their battle to clear hundreds of UK-bound illegal migrants from Calais, they admitted yesterday. It follows the arrest of up to 600 mainly young men in the Channel port on Wednesday by riot squads. Police used tear gas and batons in a dawn raid which ended up with a makeshift settlement being bulldozed. Scroll down for video . French policemen expel illegal migrants from their camp in Calais . Those taken into police custody had their personal details recorded, and were then offered advice about how to claim asylum in France. ‘The vast majority said they wanted to get to Britain, and in these circumstances there was very little else we can do,’ said a senior officer involved in the clear-out. ‘Most of those apprehended were released and allowed to get on their ways. ‘Many destroy their identify papers so we don’t even know who they are or where they come from.’ Technically, the migrants can be deported to their first European port of arrival, but in practice it is not worth the trouble as they just come back again. A spokesman for Alliance, the French police union, said: ‘Police don’t have the means to tackle the people-trafficking networks behind all this, and so the migrants will keep coming.’ Many of those apprehended on Wednesday had been staging a hunger striker ever since three other camps were destroyed in May. Denis Robin, the Prefect for the Pas-de-Calais, also admitted that the tough measures had not solved the problem. ‘The . Calais migrants are today in a geographic and judicial impasse,’ said . Mr Robin. ‘The British government will not let them break the law and . circumvent our security measures, and the migrants are not accepting the . measures we offer them.’ Up to 600 mainly young men were arrested in the Channel port of Calais on Wednesday by riot squads (file picture) Despite riot police doing everything possible to disperse the migrants, Mr Robin said around 900 were still hanging around his region, the vast majority in Calais itself. Despite action which has been attacked by human rights groups, Mr Denis insisted that the ‘French government is ready to hold out a hand, to make a national effort’ to help the migrants. He said any asylum demands would be ‘dealt with urgently’ and that ‘shelters would be offered’, although far away from Channel ports like Calais. Mr Denis insisted there would be no repeat of the Sangatte Red Cross refugee centre which acted as magnet for thousands of illegal migrants before being shut down in 2002. Charity workers helping refugees from wars in Syria and Afghanistan have reacted with outrage to the clear-outs, blaming them on a shift to the far-right in French politics. Most of the migrants play a nightly game of cat and mouse with the police and border officials as they try to reach Britain in the back of lorries. Once in the UK they will claim asylum, which entitles them to generous benefits, or disappear into the black economy. Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart has long argued that Britain’s ‘generous welfare system’ is the real cause of the migrant crisis in her town.
French police admit they are losing the battle to clear UK-bound illegal migrants from Calais .
It follows arrests of up to 600 mainly young men in the Channel port .
Tear gas and batons wee used in the dawn raid with settlements bulldozed .
French police are losing their battle to clear hundreds of UK-bound illegal migrants from Calais, they admitted yesterday. It follows the arrest of up to 600 mainly young men in the Channel port on Wednesday by riot squads. Police used tear gas and batons in a dawn raid which ended up with a makeshift settlement being bulldozed. Scroll down for video . French policemen expel illegal migrants from their camp in Calais . Those taken into police custody had their personal details recorded, and were then offered advice about how to claim asylum in France. ‘The vast majority said they wanted to get to Britain, and in these circumstances there was very little else we can do,’ said a senior officer involved in the clear-out. ‘Most of those apprehended were released and allowed to get on their ways. ‘Many destroy their identify papers so we don’t even know who they are or where they come from.’ Technically, the migrants can be deported to their first European port of arrival, but in practice it is not worth the trouble as they just come back again. A spokesman for Alliance, the French police union, said: ‘Police don’t have the means to tackle the people-trafficking networks behind all this, and so the migrants will keep coming.’ Many of those apprehended on Wednesday had been staging a hunger striker ever since three other camps were destroyed in May. Denis Robin, the Prefect for the Pas-de-Calais, also admitted that the tough measures had not solved the problem. ‘The . Calais migrants are today in a geographic and judicial impasse,’ said . Mr Robin. ‘The British government will not let them break the law and . circumvent our security measures, and the migrants are not accepting the . measures we offer them.’ Up to 600 mainly young men were arrested in the Channel port of Calais on Wednesday by riot squads (file picture) Despite riot police doing everything possible to disperse the migrants, Mr Robin said around 900 were still hanging around his region, the vast majority in Calais itself. Despite action which has been attacked by human rights groups, Mr Denis insisted that the ‘French government is ready to hold out a hand, to make a national effort’ to help the migrants. He said any asylum demands would be ‘dealt with urgently’ and that ‘shelters would be offered’, although far away from Channel ports like Calais. Mr Denis insisted there would be no repeat of the Sangatte Red Cross refugee centre which acted as magnet for thousands of illegal migrants before being shut down in 2002. Charity workers helping refugees from wars in Syria and Afghanistan have reacted with outrage to the clear-outs, blaming them on a shift to the far-right in French politics. Most of the migrants play a nightly game of cat and mouse with the police and border officials as they try to reach Britain in the back of lorries. Once in the UK they will claim asylum, which entitles them to generous benefits, or disappear into the black economy. Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart has long argued that Britain’s ‘generous welfare system’ is the real cause of the migrant crisis in her town.
French police are losing their battle to clear hundreds of UK-bound illegal migrants from Calais, they admitted yesterday. It follows the arrest of up to 600 mainly young men in the used tear gas and batons in a dawn raid which arrested in the Channel port of Calais on