'Disgraceful' UK Accused of Stirring Up Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

While visiting Singapore over the weekend, Hammond told the BBC that the EU needed to get tough on asylum seekers entering Europe illegally, adding that any significant increase in migrants would also affect the UK.

"The gap in standards of living between Europe and Africa means there will always be millions of Africans with the economic motivation to try to get to Europe.

"So long as there are large numbers of pretty desperate migrants marauding around the area, there always will be a threat to the tunnel security. We've got to resolve this problem ultimately by being able to return those who are not entitled to claim asylum back to their countries of origin."

Political rivals quickly jumped on Hammond's comments, with opposition figures accusing the foreign secretary of scaremongering, after he claimed that Europe wouldn't be able to "protect itself" if it was take to take millions of migrants from Africa.

Leadership hopefuls from the Labour party were particularly concerned by Mr Hammond's choice of words.

Candidate Jeremy Corbyn said the "disgraceful" comments were part of the government's plan to stir up anti-immigrant hostility, while shadow home secretary Yvette Copper described Mr Hammond's statement as "alarmist and unhelpful."

"As NGOs have pointed out, many of those crossing the Mediterranean are fleeing a terrible conflict and humanitarian crisis in Syria.

"Yet Britain is doing too little to help address the European refugee issue."

"We need practical responses to help refugees, stop people smuggling, and prevent illegal travelling — and European countries need to work together to implement them, not just resort to divisive statements instead," she said.

Tough Talk Designed to 'Inflame Tensions'

The outrage over Mr Hammond's rhetoric towards asylum seekers and migrants follows widespread criticism of Prime Minister David Cameron, who last month described asylum seekers as a "swarm".

Many critics and commentators have taken note of the government's stance towards asylum seekers, accusing the Conservatives of grossly exaggerating the threat posed by asylum seekers in order to appease the party's Eurosceptic elements, and in turn justify its tough immigration policies.

Peter Sutherland, the UN's special representative on migration attacked Cameron's response to the situation, pointing that the UK accepts far fewer refugees than other European countries, saying the perceived threat posed by migrants was "exaggerated beyond belief".

Speaking to RTE radio, Mr Sutherland said suggestions that Britain was facing an invasion of asylum seekers was "absolute nonsense," designed to "inflame tensions" over the issue.

"I find it quite amazing the accounts that are being given in the UK media in regard to Calais. Suggesting the UK is being flooded with asylum seekers and that this creates a real threat is absolute nonsense."

The Facts and Figures

There is a significant difference between the language of refugee advocates and British government officials when it comes to accepting asylum seekers, however the facts and statistics tell a story of their own.

While the UK is concerned with the estimated 3,000 people living in informal camp settlements near the French port city of Calais, many other countries have far greater numbers of asylum seekers trying to enter their shores.

More than 120,000 migrants have arrived in Greece so far this year, including 50,000 in July alone, as the country's crumbling economy and infrastructure struggles to accommodate many of the new arrivals traveling from war-torn countries in the Middle East.

Italy is also at the forefront of asylum seeker arrivals, with 90,000 people making the perilous voyage across the Mediterranean so far this year, following on from 170,000 last year.

These figures seem to dwarf London's concerns about the few thousand people hoping to enter the UK from Calais, while a look at official EU asylum seeker applications also reveals that Britain is certainly not the most popular destination for new arrivals in Europe.

Data from Eurostat revealed that Germany received the most asylum applications out of EU countries between January and April this year with 97,640.

This was ten times more than the number of applications from people hoping to settle in Britain, which received 9,285 requests from asylum seekers during the first three months of the year to rank seventh out of 28 EU countries.