Craig Houston, leader of the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, has described migrant camps along the French coast as "absolute chaos" as people attempt to reach Britain during favourable weather conditions.
Speaking on GB News, Houston detailed his recent visit to the area between Calais and Dunkirk.
He explained: "It's chaos, absolute chaos. I started off in Dover two days ago and saw the amount coming in through one source, which was the Border Force picking them up out of the sea.
"I then noticed that the boats, the ferries, are still running, but nobody's talking about stowaways, so I'm curious to find out about that.
Craig Houston, leader of the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, has described migrant camps along the French coast as "absolute chaos"
GB NEWS
"I got a ferry over on Tuesday morning, and started driving around the Calais, Dunkirk area, and it was just crazy.
"I arrived in Calais, went straight to the town centre, and the first thing I found, within two minutes, was a mini camp set up in the middle of a residential area, in a lovely canal setting. I was astonished.
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"I then drove up towards Dunkirk, and halfway there, I saw a lot of people heading towards an area, and I was curious to find out what was there.
"There were no tents there, so I thought, where did these people sleep? I started driving round about a mile radius from that position, and I started finding very small camps, 5 to 10 tents each, almost everywhere, scattered all over the country.
"I spoke to police there asking where the migrants were, and they said everywhere between Bologna and Dunkirk, and almost up to the Belgian border.
"Now, that's about 50 miles as the crow flies. I'm not sure how many miles the coast goes, but when you've got these things spread across that massive mileage, it concerns me as to whether they're all trying to come to our shores.
The UK is expecting a surge in crossings due to the good weather
PA"It just concerns me about the actual official figures. I know the ones coming in through Border Force are right, because I was there when they were people counting. But I'm just concerned now.
"My next task is to find out what the level of stowaways is, and the things that they're not catching, that are coming under the cover of darkness."
Meanwhile, smuggling gangs have adapted their tactics to evade French authorities, launching "taxi-boats" from concealed locations rather than traditional departure beaches.
These vessels now operate from sites dozens of kilometres from main launch points, cruising along the coastline to collect passengers.
WATCH: Tory MP blasts 'excuses' from Labour as migrant crossings surge
Migrants wait in waist-high waters where French police cannot intervene, boarding the boats as they pass. This new method allows smugglers to operate more quickly whilst avoiding detection.
The changes come as Downing Street acknowledges the situation is "deteriorating", with 16,317 migrants crossing the Channel so far this year.
This represents a 40 per cent increase compared to the same period last year and marks the highest figure for any year since Channel crossings began in 2018.
Albanian crime gangs are now offering Channel crossings for just £2,000 per person, described by Downing Street as a "summer discount" and the lowest price since 2002.
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