Trop d'immigrants pour le maire de Calais

3 Septembre 2014 , Rédigé par Laurence B Publié dans #Politique

Calais mayor threatens* to block port if UK fails* to help deal* with migrants

Natacha Bouchart says such a move* would be illegal, but she wants to send a strong message to Britain

To threaten = menacer
To fail = échouer, ne pas aboutir
To deal with = s’occuper de, se charger de
A move = (ici) une démarche, une mesure

The mayor of Calais has threatened to shut down* the port unless* Britain helps to deal with the hundreds of migrants there trying to cross* the Channel*. “I could take the decision to block the port ... I could bring pressure to bear,” Natacha Bouchart told reporters in Paris after meeting France’s interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve. “It would be illegal,” she recognised, “but today I want to make a strong gesture towards* the British.”
To shut down = fermer (définitivement)
Unless = à moins que/de
To cross = traverser
The Channel = la Manche
To bring pressure to bear (on) = agir sur
Towards = envers, à l’égard de

Bouchart took issue with* the immigration policy of the UK which, she complained*, was “considered as an Eldorado” by immigrants. She also reproached London for demanding increased* security at the Calais port without* contributing enough* to the project, which, she said, cost €10m (£8m) a year. Bouchart said she had not discussed the possibility of blocking the port with the interior minister, aware* that he could not back* such a measure. “But I told him that I hoped he would have some strong negotiations with the British.”
To take issue with = être en désaccord avec
To complain = se plaindre
Increased = intensifié, accru
Without = sans
Enough = suffisamment
To be aware = être conscient
To back = soutenir, accompagner

Cazeneuve, who was in London last Friday, had called on the British to help financially with security at the port, a ministerial source said. Bouchart and Cazeneuve also agreed on opening a day centre in Calais for migrants, many of them from Africa, and a night shelter* for women and children.
A night shelter = un abri pour la nuit

There are about 1,300 migrants in the northern French port. Most are from Eritrea or Somalia and are hoping to reach England rather than* seeking asylum in France. People fleeing* war-torn* Syria are adding to the rising* numbers. A Red Cross centre was opened in 1999 but rapidly became overcrowded*, holding 2,000 people before it was closed in 2002, rather than the 800 it was built for.
Rather than = au lieu de, plutôt que
To seek asylum = faire une demande d’asile
To flee = fuir
War-torn = déchiré par la guerre
Rising = en hausse, croissant
Overcrowded = surchargé, bondé

Agence France-Presse in Paris
theguardian.com, Wednesday 3 September 2014