Friday, September 25, 2015

Young African migrant killed in Channel tunnel -

Migrants in the makeshift camp called "The New Jungle" in Calais in August

Migrants in the makeshift camp called "The New Jungle" in Calais in August

Reuters/Regis Duvignau

By RFI
A young African was killed by a freight train near the entrance of the Channel tunnel in the port of Calais overnight, French officials announced Thusday. European leaders remained divided over a decision to take in 120,000 refugees, despite a six-hour summit in Brussels Wednesday.

The migrant was hit by a freight shuttle at around 2.00am on the Channel tunnel site, officials said.

Emergency services found an African, a minor, dead when they arrived.

They said he was probably from Eritrea or Sudan.

More than 11 people have died while trying to cross from France to Britain, either in the tunnel or near it.



German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that the agreement to relocate 120,000 refugees in EU countries was not enough to tackle the influx.

"I am deeply convinced that what Europe needs is not just selective relocation of this kind, but much more a durable process for fairly distributing refugees among member states," she told parliament. "A first step has been taken but we are still far from where we should be."

Four countries - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania - voted against the deal but will still have to take in several thousand people.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday accused Merkel of "moral imperialism", while Slovak PM Robert Fico announced that he would go to the European Court of Justice to have the "diktat" overturned.

A six-hour summit on Wednesday decided to devote at least one billion more euros to helping refugees in countries around Syria, European Council President Donald Tusk announced on Wednesday night.

The money will go to the UN's refugee and programme and the World Food Programme.

France is to donate 100 million euros over two years, President François Hollande said.
TAGS: ERITREA - SUDAN - FRANCE - FRANCE AND THE WORLD - MIGRATION - IMMIGRATION - REFUGEES - CALAIS -BRITAIN - ENGLISH CHANNEL - TUNNEL