Most are from Iraq and Afghanistan, and are now living in insanitary settlements close to the port.

BBC: UK 'should help' Calais migrants

Shackled and crammed into the ships' holds in the most grotesque and insanitary conditions, the slaves would then have to endure the so-called "Middle Passage" across the Atlantic between Africa and the Americas, a journey that could last anything from five weeks to three months.

CNN: Timely regrets: Britain's guilt for its slave trade history