The Mayor of Calais has spoken of her "disgust" that Britain has not offered to take migrants from her town after the Government pledged to resettle up to 20,000 refugees.
Natacha Bouchart accused the David Cameron of showing "contempt" for the people of Calais as she called on him to accept 3,500 people massed in the northern French port.
In an uncompromising performance in front of MPs, she also said Britain must make it clear that it is not an "El Dorado" for migrants, claiming they are attracted by the "ease of life" and citing the benefits system and access to jobs in the unofficial economy.
Appearing at the Home Affairs Select Committee, Ms Bouchart was asked about the Prime Minister's announcement that although Britain will take 20,000 refugees, this would not include those who have already arrived in Europe.
Ms Bouchart said: "I am disgusted by that. Understand the position we've been in for the last 15 years.
"If he doesn't take refugees from Calais, that is proof that he is contemptuous of the population in Calais."
She asked: "Could Mr Cameron take 3,500 migrants from Calais?"
Questioned about whether this would send a message that would encourage more people to the town, she said: "Does that mean that the people of Calais are going to be condemned to live in this situation forever?"
The mayor claimed that nearly all of the migrants gathered in her town want to go to the UK.
"They demonstrate every day outside the town hall. Every day myself and my deputies say to them ... if you want to stay in France you must claim asylum," she said.
"Less than 10% want to stay in France. All the others want to come to England and we are going round and round in a circle. Even if we opened up 50,000 places in France they would not claim asylum in France."
She has repeatedly argued that the impression that Britain is a comfortable place for migrants to live is a major pull factor for those arriving in Calais.
Ms Bouchart re-affirmed the claim, saying: "Migrants say that when they get to England they can easily find work here. They can find accommodation and have some kind of benefits every day.
"What I would like to ask the British Government is to put in some kind of measures to regulate the migration flows so that we are not taken hostage in this situation.
"You need to continue to assert and confirm that the UK is not an El Dorado for migrants. You need to take into account the population of Calais.
"They are suffering day and night for these problems."
Questioned about figures suggesting that benefits for asylum seekers were more generous in France and that the black market is more lucrative on the other side of the Channel, she said she was simply repeating what migrants said.
"They are all unanimous," she said. "It is the families who are in England who pass the message to the migrants in Calais.
"It is the ease of life for migrants in England. That is why they are ready to die to claim asylum here and we have to bury the people who are dying in Calais."
She also demanded "economic aid" from the British Government.
Ms Bouchart added: "I am looking for about 50 million (£36 million) euros from national authorities and European authorities."
Immigration Minister James Brokenshire was asked by committee chairman Keith Vaz if there was any way the government could relocate some Syrians who make it to Calais "as a gesture of goodwill".
The minister said: "Our focus, as the Prime Minister has indicated is, through that resettlement in the camps directly from region."
Efforts to make sure asylum seekers' claims are dealt with quickly to ease the pressure on Calais were among measures announced in a new joint declaration signed with the French government last month, he said.
Figures provided by Sir Charles Montgomery, director general of UK Border Force, disclosed that officers at "juxtaposed" controls in France stopped 40,000 attempts to cross the Channel in the last financial year while 30,000 interceptions were made in the first three months of 2014/15 alone.
These will include repeated attempts by the same people.
Defences around the Port of Calais and the Coquelles terminal have been stepped up in response to the crisis, with the UK Government injecting millions of pounds.
Sir Charles said: "We saw a significant surge over the summer months. Those numbers have reduced quite markedly as the security measures ... are taking effect."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel