MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A simmering refugee crisis in the EU came to international prominence in Calais this summer after several deaths were registered amid thousands of attempts made by refugees to cross the Channel Tunnel to the United Kingdom to gain asylum.
The French Interior Ministry said in a press release that May and Cazeneuve would tour the Eurotunnel site and meet with various associations assisting refugees camped near the port.
The ministers are expected to sign a multifaceted agreement to increase security and counter criminal networks of "smugglers trafficking in human beings and illegal migration."
French and British authorities are managing an estimated 4,000 refugees in Calais, a majority of whom are known to make nightly attempts to board trains and lorries crossing the 31-mile Channel Tunnel into Folkestone, Kent.
Paris requested the equivalent of $2.66 million in emergency assistance from the European Commission this week, which it says would be used to accommodate some 500 asylum seekers.
EC spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud told Sputnik earlier in the day it was organizing a visit to Calais at an undisclosed date.
