Migrant ghettos ‘nuclear time bomb’ may ‘explode’ due to building unrest, EU official says
MIGRANT ghettos could “become a nuclear bomb in the future”, a European Union official has warned as violence escalates near former settlement camps.
By NICOLE STINSON
Express.co.uk
Mon, Feb 12, 2018
Earlier this month five migrants were shot and 22 others hospitalised after a huge riot broke out in Calais.
The increased violence came just weeks after French president Emmanuel Macron visited Calais to say migrant camps like the “Jungle” that was razed in 2016 must not be rebuilt.
European Commissioner for regional policy Corina Cretu said that money is crucial to stop the segregation of migrants in dangerous ghettos and providing “social integration”
Speaking at the World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Ms Cretu said: “Social integration will be crucial in the years to come.
“If we allow ghettos or segregation of migrants, this will become a nuclear bomb in the future.”
Her comments come as the EU has a war chest of £310 billion to spend by 2020 on its so-called cohesion policy as it tries to reduce inequality across the bloc.
Ms Cretu, who oversees the cohesion policy, also detailed recent investments on the frontlines of Europe’s migrant crisis including two boats for Italian authorities, who have been dealing with migrant boats trying to enter the EU via the Mediterranean Sea.
Despite decades of spending on infrastructure in the poorer parts of Europe, the EU is aiming to reduce inequality by pumping more money into countries in eastern and southern Europe.
Using a new approach to measure inequality Ms Cretu said the EU hopes to give policy makers a better understanding of which areas are most in need.
She added: “GDP per capita is not very accurate because it doesn’t take into account these pockets of poverty unemployment.
“We have still people who are dying because of the quality of water, because the networks were built 40-50 years ago.”
On February 2, shots were fired between roughly 100 Eritreans and around 30 Afghans queued for free meals at a distribution point near Calais at around 3.30pm French time.
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