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European Migrant Crisis Strains All Borders

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With guest host John Donvan

The migrant crush at the Chunnel, linking France and England, puts a spotlight on Europe’s migration crisis. We’ll go there.

Police officers block migrants along a road to prevent their access to train tracks which lead to the Channel Tunnel, in Calais, northern France, Wednesday, July 29, 2015. (AP)
Police officers block migrants along a road to prevent their access to train tracks which lead to the Channel Tunnel, in Calais, northern France, Wednesday, July 29, 2015. (AP)

They’re poor, they’re desperate, and they’re not wanted: the waves of African and Middle Eastern men — they’re mostly men — flooding into Europe to escape brutal wars at home. Risking all to get across Europe’s soft borders for safety and freedom, only to find fences going up. Hungary’s literally building a wall against the migrants. French police are nightly battling thousands trying to slip into the tunnel under the English Channel that leads to Britain. It’s the summer’s biggest and most heartbreaking story in Europe, with no clear right answer. This hour On Point: Europe’s migrant crisis, and the limits to sanctuary.
-- John Donvan 

Guests

Colette Davidson, Paris correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. (@kolet_ink)

Leonard Doyle, spokesperson for the director general of the International Organization for Migration. (@leonarddoyle)

Ryan Heath, senior European Union correspondent for POLITICO Europe. (@politicoryan)

From The Reading List

POLITICO Europe: Nobody's problem — "French police have recorded more than 2,000 incursions into the Eurotunnel’s secure area on several nights this week. The sheer number of migrants trying to cross at a single point of passage has tested authorities’ ability to police the border, leaving them unable to process every migrant they arrest attempting to secrete themselves into a freight truck. When they have caught one, police escort migrants outside the secure zone — only to see them reappear and attempt a new crossing later the same night."

NPR News: Thousands Of Migrants Try To Reach Britain Using The Chunnel — "The young people are trying to jump onboard the trains or stow in the back of the trucks, which are then loaded onto the trains which pass through the tunnel. The police are overwhelmed. This week, thousands - literally, they said 1,500 migrants the night before last tried to storm the tunnel to get on trucks. And one migrant was run over by a truck and killed."

Guardian: Striking French ferry workers block Calais port route with huge fire — "A huge fire set alight by striking French ferry workers brought more disruption to Calais on Friday, causing gridlock on routes towards the port as dozens of migrants made new attempts to reach the UK. About a dozen workers of My Ferry Link burned tires across a key motorway leading to the port shortly before midday as part of a long-running dispute over 600 job losses."

This program aired on August 3, 2015.

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