CAMPAIGNERS amplified calls for safe routes today following a deadly shooting near a refugee camp close to the French port city of Dunkirk.

Two people seeking asylum and two security guards were fatally shot near the site in Loon-Plage on Saturday, local media reported. 

A fifth victim, said to be the owner of a trucking company, was also targeted in a nearby town.

A 22-year-old man surrendered at a police station after the murder spree. 

A source familiar with the case said police are investigating whether the man had a professional falling out with the companies where three of the victims had worked, French newspaper Le Monde reported.

Matin, a Kurdish man staying at the camp, told Sky News earlier that day, the two victims, another man, and himself, had spent eight hours at sea trying to cross to Britain. 

Their dinghy, however, fell apart, leaving them close to drowning before they were picked up by police.

On their way back to camp, he said that the killer, who he described as a white Frenchman, “came with a shotgun and showered us with bullets.”

“Initially, we thought he would fire in the air and then he loaded the gun and aimed at us,” Matin said.

“We saw death with our own eyes. It was God’s will that we survived. In one day, we saw death twice.”

Stand up to Racism co-convener Sabby Dhalu said: “This horrific attack does point to the need for safe passage to Britain for refugees and for them to be treated humanely and not left exposed in makeshift camps. 

“While one cannot speculate regarding the motives of this particular attack, in general, the hatred and racism towards refugees encouraged by politicians in France and elsewhere does lead to violence on the ground and must stop.”

Migrants’ Rights Network CEO Fizza Qureshi said: “The horrors faced by the people attacked in the migrant camp in Dunkirk is unimaginable. 

“People seeking asylum have experienced unbelievable traumas in their countries of origin and now, they face people attempting to murder them as they try to survive in the camps. 

“These horrendous acts have been enabled by populist racist rhetoric spouted by politicians and the media alike. 

“We urge the French government to protect those in the camps of Calais and Dunkirk, and to work with the UK government to offer safe routes so no-one else has to put their lives at risk.” 

Home Office officials stayed silent on the murders and instead focused on plans to further tighten Britain’s borders.

The “Calais Group” of ministers from Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to clamp down on “dangerous irregular journeys” earlier in the week.

Today, the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg pressed the Home Secretary on giving targets for crossings, complaining that not doing so “makes it feel like it’s not a priority.”

Yvette Cooper said: “We are putting in place the things that we need, the agreements with other countries, the stronger returns arrangements, the much stronger law enforcement, the operations with Germany to go after the smugglers’ supply chains, the operations with Italy to go after the illicit finance.”

The Labour minister did not rule out using a third country to process asylum claims.

Ms Cooper is currently visiting Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has signed a deal to send refugees rescued at sea to detention camps in Albania, for further talks on migration.