A leading French presidential candidate says he will move his country's border with Britain to the UK, amid concerns about the backlog of British-bound illegal migrants on French soil.
Alain Juppé, a center-right former prime minister who is considered a frontrunner in next year's elections, told journalists that he is seeking a renegotiation of the 2003 Le Touquet accord, which, because it allows England to check passports in France, in effect situates the border to Britain on French territory.
The policy has resulted in thousands of migrants converging on the controversial "Jungle" migrant camp outside the French port of Calais, as they attempt to smuggle themselves across the Channel.
"We can't tolerate what is going on in Calais, the image is disastrous for our country and there are also extremely serious economic and security consequences for the people of Calais," Juppé said, in a Paris interview with The Guardian and a number of European newspapers.
The first thing is to denounce the Le Touquet accords. We cannot accept making the selection on French territory of people that Britain does or doesn't want. It's up to Britain to do that job," he said.
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