Calais crisis: Migrants 'have knives and are not afraid to use them' - live

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12.21

Kent Police has said Operation Stack is expected to last for the rest of the day. Bad news for drivers on the M20.

12.15

Henry Samuel reports:

Police have already hauled 350 migrants on Wednesday morning out of lorries entering the Channel tunnel - figures they say are reaching record proportions.

"We are pulling out practically two every truck," said Gilles Debove, of the police union Unité SGP-Police FO.

"Overnight we found around 100 or so by the time the trucks had been through the scanner, heartbeat and CO2 checks, but now they have completely invaded the site," he told the Telegraph.

Mr Debove said he expected the figures to "explode" by the end of the day given the numbers of migrants trying to stow away in lorries and the 12-miles tailback in the run-up to the Eurotunnel entrance, meaning trucks are at a standstill or moving very slowly.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/11695208/Calais-crisis-enters-second-day-live.html

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1. Hungary to build fence on Serbian border as fast as possible

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s foreign minister says the government has decided to build a temporary fence on the border with Serbia as fast as possible to stop the flow of illegal migrants.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Wednesday that several laws needed to be amended before construction could begin but he did not say when the work on the border could start.

Szijjarto said the fence, which is opposed by Serbia, “is not a bilateral issue. Relations with Serbia have never been as good as now.”

He said 61,000 illegal immigrants had entered Hungary this year, nearly all by crossing Hungary’s southern border with Serbia. Most of those who request refugee status in Hungary quickly leave for other destinations in western Europe, like Austria, Germany and Sweden.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/hungary-to-build-fence-on-serbian-border-as-fast-as-possible/2015/06/24/77a465a8-1a5c-11e5-bed8-1093ee58dad0_story.html

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3. Hungary Seeks to Push Out Migrants to Greece Amid EU Discord

Hungary, fearing an influx of illegal immigrants returned by western Europe, wants those migrants to be sent all the way back to Greece, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

Hungary was notified by Austria and 10 other EU countries that they intended to return undocumented immigrants to Hungary, the first place of registration for many of them, Szijjarto told reporters in Budapest on Wednesday. Hungarian refugee centers are struggling under “heavy technical pressure,” he said.

“These illegal immigrants first stepped onto EU territory in Greece, not Hungary, so that’s where they should be sent back,” Szijjarto said, adding the government disagrees with the plan to send refugees back to Hungary.

Syria’s civil war, Libya’s disintegration and turmoil in northern Africa have pushed migration to Europe to levels not seen since the early 1990s. While Hungary isn’t often considered a final destination for migrants, it serves as an entry point to the bloc’s visa-free zone because it borders Serbia and Ukraine.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-24/hungary-seeks-to-push-back-migrants-to-greece-amid-eu-discord

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2. David Cameron says the scenes at Calais are 'totally unacceptable'

Chaotic scenes at Calais that led to the Channel Tunnel being shut after migrants attempted to climb aboard UK-bound lorries are "totally unacceptable", David Cameron has said.

The Prime Minister said it was important to work with the French and there was "no point either side trying to point the finger of blame".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/11696299/David-Cameron-says-the-scenes-at-Calais-are-totally-unacceptable.html