Jeremy Corbyn has called for Britain to join EU efforts to tackle the refugee crisis, amid claims by some European leaders that it will push the union to breaking point.

The Labour leader made his comments during a visit 0n Saturday to the Grande-Synthe refugee camp near Dunkirk in northern France, to see the squalid conditions in which more than 2,500 people are sleeping rough first-hand.

His trip comes as urgency grows over the refugee crisis, with the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, saying the influx was putting the EU’s future in “grave danger” and that if Europe can’t protect its borders, “the very idea of Europe could be thrown into doubt”.

Speaking to the press during his visit, Corbyn called for Britain to be part of a pan-European effort to help ease the crisis and praised Germany’s efforts, avoiding the topic of the Cologne attacks and the anti-refugee rhetoric that followed.

He said: “Germany has done an enormous amount, other countries have done varying amounts and I think we should be part of bringing European support to people.”

He called on the British government to join efforts to share refugees around the EU and accept more unaccompanied children immediately.

His comments come as EU officials prepare to meet to discuss suspending Europe’s border-free travel zone for two years.

Corbyn was given a tour of the site, where he met refugees and aid workers before speaking of the “dreadful situation” faced by people people living there.



He said: “We have got people here who have been here for months, if not longer than that, with no proper education, no access to doctors, no access to dentists, limited access to food in very cold, very wet conditions.

“We as human beings have to reach out to fellow human beings.”

The number of migrants and refugees at Grande-Synthe has risen steadily since last October, from around 800 to around 2,500 in recent weeks.

Most in the camp are Kurds from Iran, Syria and Iraq looking to enter the UK, including about 250 children, according to Médecins Sans Frontières.

The organisation took action in the face of what it called authorities’ failure to offer decent living conditions to the masses camped in ankle-deep mud.

Aid workers said people have been living in ultra-thin tents surrounded by puddles of water and food, which has attracted rats and prompted regular extermination operations.

Help and donations, including food, clothing and tents, have come from volunteers who often arrive at weekends from the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.