World News for Students of English

08-09-2015 15:00

We all know about the migrant crisis in the French port of Calais, but what do the people who live there make of the situation? On Monday August 31st as French ministers and EU commissioners visited various sites at the port, the locals raised their concerns.

“Today, the situation is so bad that politicians have to show up here. It’s been the case recently. It used to be the case during the Sangatte centre which was then closed. Today, unfortunately, we’re waiting for people to die crossing the Channel, for unrest in the streets of Calais. The situation is a bit of a shame.”

Images of thousands of migrants camped in the Northern French port seeking passage to Britain have recently left French and UK politicians with little other than to find a solution.

The two countries have jointly increased security at the Eurotunnel terminal in Calais after weeks of disruption to traffic caused by migrants attempting to enter the site to board trains or lorries heading for the UK.

And as if that’s not enough for the locals to deal with, the city is also seeing trouble with a long running ferry dispute, as protesting ferry-workers blocked road access to the port in protest against job cuts.

“The situation is getting worse and worse – we see the migrants in the street. Calais has changed a lot in the last 15 years – industrial sites closing, migrants who are trying to cross to England. At the moment, they are trying to force through the tunnel. SeaFrance closed, and now MyFerryLink is filing for bankruptcy, so Calais is getting weaker every day and with every coming year.”

Difficult words: raise concerns (to talk about your worries), attempt (to try), dispute (a disagreement between management and employees), file (to submit a legal document).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com