Calais drivers need more protection from migrants, says lorry group

Calais drivers need more protection from migrants, says lorry group

Road Haulage Association warns of potential for fatal attacks and suggests deployment of French military to boost security Someone will end up being killed if more is not done to protect lorry drivers from desperate migrants in Calais trying to get to the UK, the Road Haulage Association has warned.

Industrial action by ferry workers over the past two weeks, which at times has brought lorries to a standstill on both sides of the channel, has led to chaotic scenes with migrants trying to clamber on to vehicles at the northern French port.

There was some relief after a partial lifting of the blockade on Thursday, but on Saturday there were more problems when around around 150 migrants tried to storm the terminal at Calais, causing disruption and cancellations to Channel tunnel services.

The RHA chief executive, Richard Burnett, who recently visited Calais to see the problems first-hand, said: "I think it's a desperate situation for truck drivers. Put yourself in their situation: you are on your own trying to get through and you've got 20 migrants around your truck trying to get on, and you're on your own trying to get them off.

"They are intimidating, some of them have metal bars, knives and, in one incident, a gun was pointed at a trucker. Somebody is going to get killed. I think things are beginning to boil over."

The migrant crisis has escalated in recent weeks in Calais, with around 3,000 people displaced from countries including Eritrea, Syria and Afghanistan setting up camp near the port. French aid workers have said 2,000 more could arrive over the summer at the camp, nicknamed Jungle II.

The RHA has suggested deployment of the French military to boost security in Calais. Burnett claimed Britain was seen as "too attractive a place" for migrants to come to, and called for a long-term solution involving governments and the EU. The French and British governments have both faced criticism for failing to prevent disruption.

Dan Cook, operations director of Europa Worldwide Group, a Kent-based transport, distribution and logistics firm, said: "We have had vehicles on the motorway in broad daylight being surrounded by marauding mobs racing around, opening doors, cutting trailers, climbing into the back.

"We have experienced quite a bit of theft and damage to customers' products. You're looking at not only the damage to equipment but also claims from customers as well."

The Fresh Produce Consortium estimates that 10m pieces of fresh fruit and vegetables have been thrown away since the start of the year as a result of the problems in Calais. Port of Dover officials said last week's ferry strike cost the UK economy £1bn.

Although the protests have been suspended until Tuesday, Eric Vercoutre, leader of the Maritime Nord union, has said blockades will resume if demands to prevent job losses at MyFerryLink are not met. "We will block the tunnel, we will block the port," the Sunday Times quoted Vercoutre as saying.

A Eurotunnel spokesman said the company "reiterates its call to the authorities to provide a solution to the migrant crisis and restore order to the Calais region".

The home secretary, Theresa May, and her French counterpart, Bernard Cazeneuve, agreed this week to increase a joint intervention fund to improve security around the port and the Channel tunnel.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Law and order in and around Calais is the responsibility of the French authorities, but the UK continues to work with its French counterparts to strengthen the security of the border to stop illegal immigrants entering the UK."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/04/migrants-try-to-storm-channel-tunnel-sparking-further-delays