Eritrean migrants take cover from the rain under an umbrella during the daily food distribution at the harbour in Calais, northern France, May 27, 2014. French authorities dispense medicine against scabies and announced that they will close three such cam
IN PHOTO: Eritrean migrants take cover from the rain under an umbrella during the daily food distribution at the harbour in Calais, northern France, May 27, 2014. French authorities dispense medicine against scabies and announced that they will close three such camps tomorrow morning where several hundred illegal migrants gather before attempting to cross the channel to Britain. Reuters/Pascal Rossignol

Britain, already at loggerheads with the European Union over the influx of migrants, has got embroiled in a tussle with France on the issue of migrants streaming from the French border to the U.K. The trigger is the migrant crisis at the French port town of Calais with officials of both countries accusing each other of not doing enough to tackle the migrant influx.

Natacha Bourchart, Mayor of Calais, faced a bunch of angry British MPs when she visited the British Parliament on Tuesday to discuss the ways and means of checking illegal immigrants entering the U.K from France as a transit route. Bouchart told British MPs that her city has been "taken hostage" by migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, who are desperately trying to cross the English Channel for entering Britain, reported France 24 The Mayor said the number of refugees arriving in Calais has shot up in recent weeks -- from 1,500 in August, with an average 2,300 per day. But British leaders blame this avalanche to the apathy of France.

French Inaction

According to Shadow immigration minister David Hanson, "in the first place, France needs to stop migrants from trying to board lorries bound for the U.K. There is far more the French authorities should be doing to stop the dangerous stream of migrants trying to enter our country illegally." He wrote his view in an opinion piece. "I do hope Ms Bouchart will recognise this and take action to sort this out," he said.

Frank Duvell, a senior researcher at Oxford's migration observatory COMPAS, sees the U.K at the wrong side. "It seems Britain wants to blame each and every entity in and out of Europe for the failure in preventing irregular migration," Duvell told FRANCE 24.

Blames Britain

Of late, Calais is marred by violence. In October, hundreds of migrants stormed many England-bound lorries. The police fought back with tear gas. The clash made Paris rush additional forces to the northern port and announced the opening of one more centre to help asylum seekers.

Mayor Bouchart blames the generous U.K. benefits system behind the rush of migrants, even risking their lives in making the journey across the English Channel. Bourchart has threatened to block the port unless Britain stepped in to control the number of migrants transiting France. Meanwhile, Guardian reported that Natacha Bouchart told the Commons Home affairs committee that part of the problem arose from the British government's passivity in not telling potential migrants that there is no 'El Dorado' for them in the U.K.