UK to face rush of migrants as France opens migrant camp 'Sangatte 2'

The decision to turn a holiday camp in Calais into a migrant shelter will cost £6million a year.

Half is funded by Europe, meaning UK taxpayers are contributing towards the extravagant operation.

Last night, the first jubilant arrivals, who may one day risk their lives to sneak into Britain, slept in purpose-built accommodation.

They will be provided with hot showers and fed by a Michelin-starred chef.

The site next to the ferry terminal is the first permanent shelter to open since the notorious Sangatte camp was shut in 2002 amid rioting and bloodshed.

Although the new camp is initially for women and children, men are allowed to use its facilities which include mobile phone charging stations.

Town hall officials have boasted of offering a “more complete service” than Sangatte, which was run by the Red Cross, including medical and social care.

The Jules Ferry Centre has opened on the orders of Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart who told the Council of Europe the lawlessness blighting her town was Britain’s fault.

She said: “We are at the end of our tether and we are suffering the consequences of the custodial role that Britain imposed upon us to guard their frontiers on our territory.

“The English have not evolved concerning the treatment of immigrants in their country.”

But last night critics said it would encourage thousands more migrants to flock to the port town to try their luck as stowaways bound for Dover.

At the start of this year around 3,000 migrants had made their way to Calais from war-ravaged countries including Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Sources say “large numbers” managed to reach the UK.

Almost all arrivals previously ended up in a disease-ridden camp known as “Jungle II”.

Police have given those who remain in tent cities littering the town until Tuesday to leave before bulldozers are sent in.

Yesterday the Daily Express witnessed hundreds of men setting up home at a squat next to the newly-opened camp.

Officials seized 19,003 stowaways trying to sneak into Britain on the back of lorries in 2013.

Former Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe, a Daily Express columnist, said: “This problem is a French one... There should not be a migrant site.

"The question for the French is, on what basis are you keeping these people here?”

Ukip MEP Steven Woolfe said: “This camp merely acts as a way to encourage more and more migrants to flock to the Channel coast – there can be no other reason."

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said: “The opening of the centre... is entirely a matter for the French authorities and the UK is not providing any funding or support for it.

“However, it is in the joint interest of the UK and France to work together to tackle the pressures at the port of Calais and to prevent illegal migrants coming to this country in the first place.”