Amiens, France: French President Francois Hollande warned Thursday of "consequences" for the migrant crisis if Britain leaves the EU, while calling along with British Prime Minister David Cameron for children in Calais to be reunited with family across the Channel.
"I don't want to scare you but to tell the truth, there will be consequences... including on the question of people... the way in which we manage migration issues," Hollande told reporters after meeting Cameron in the northern French city of Amiens.
Hollande also said unaccompanied children in the Calais refugee camp known as the "Jungle" who have relatives in Britain should be "quickly" reunited with them.
"When these youngsters have a family tie in the United Kingdom, they should go to the United Kingdom quickly and efficiently," Hollande said.
Cameron agreed that the system had to work "better, more speedily".
"If someone has direct family in Britain and applies for asylum in France they can come and rejoin direct family in Britain," he said.
His comments came after his outspoken Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron raised the possibility of camps similar to the so-called Jungle shanty at Calais springing up on Britain's southern coastline.
He told the Financial Times that a so-called Brexit would scupper an agreement between the two countries that allows Britain to conduct border controls on the French side of the border.
"The day this relationship unravels, migrants will no longer be in Calais," Macron told the newspaper.
AFP
