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Travel chaos warning as French farmers and truckers plan Calais camp protest French lorry drivers converge on Calais for refugee camp protest
(about 3 hours later)
Cross-Channel travellers face widespread disruption as French shopkeepers, police, trade unionists and farmers are set to join lorry drivers in calling for the northern section of the migrant camp at Calais to be demolished. French lorry drivers have threatened to blockade the port of Calais for days, causing severe travel disruption in France and the UK, unless a date is set for dismantling the “Jungle” refugee camp.
The French protesters were planning to converge on Calais from the north and south on Monday morning, effectively blocking roads in and out of the port and causing huge disruption for travellers and freight. Jean-Pierre Devigne, a senior official at France’s largest trucking union, the FNTR, confirmed that lorries and tractors would converge on Calais on Monday in two go-slow motorway protests from Dunkirk and Boulogne.
The French drivers said they were “in it for the long haul” in their protest about the migrant crisis around the French port town, a trade association warned. It added that the drivers would stand their ground until they saw action to dismantle the Jungle camp. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “We want to drive slowly on the motorway A16 from Dunkirk to Calais: one group from Dunkirk and a second from Boulogne, arriving at Calais to stop the lorries on the motorway. The farmers will join us on the way. We are determined to show that we are not happy with the situation. We [will] stay for the time we need.”
Pressure has been growing on the French authorities to tackle the problem, which has seen the camp swell in size in recent months, and talks took place between protest organisers and French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Friday. Asked whether they would maintain the blockade for days, Devigne said: “Yes. We are determined to stay on the motorway for the time we need.”
Lorries and tractors are set to gather at Dunkirk, to the north of Calais and Bolougne to the south, at 7.30am on Monday (6.30am BST), according to the Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett, who had been briefed on the situation by a representative of the French road transport union, the FNTR. He said the truckers want a date for the dismantling of the camp, which is home to up to 10,000 refugees and migrants, a minority of whom have attacked lorries approaching the port and damaged farms. “We are waiting for a reply to the demand we [made] to the French authorities. It is about the dismantling of the Jungle. We have no date exactly.”
Burnett said the RHA was disappointed that “despite assurances that the action by Calais hauliers would take the form of a go-slow, this now appears not to be the case”. Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association (RHA), said he was “very concerned” about the impact of the protest. “If this blockade actually blocks the port up then it’s going to strangle the port and we are going to see implications back on British soil as well as French.”
“Both groups will then travel along the A16 towards Calais, converging at the Eurotunnel exit,” he said. However, he said backed the FNTR’s demand for the Jungle camp to be demolished. “There needs to be a clear plan that shows how the camp is going to be dismantled,” Burnett told the BBC, adding:
The RHA said 200 French farmers are joining in the protest, angry at migrant action that has resulted in destroyed crops and extensive damage to farms in the area. “Drivers have been attacked on a daily basis for months. And there has been insufficient resource to protect.”
Pressure has been growing on the French authorities to tackle the problems at the camp, which has expanded in recent months. Talks took place between protest organisers and the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, on Friday.
The RHA said 200 French farmers are joining the protest, angry at migrant action that has damaged crops and local farms
Burnett added: “It seems certain that traffic crossing from the UK will find it almost impossible to leave the port as access to the A16 is denied.Burnett added: “It seems certain that traffic crossing from the UK will find it almost impossible to leave the port as access to the A16 is denied.
“The inevitable repercussions of this will surely mean that the authorities on this side of the Channel will have no alternative but to deploy Operation Stack. This will bring yet further misery to hauliers bound for mainland Europe and of course for the people and businesses of Kent.”“The inevitable repercussions of this will surely mean that the authorities on this side of the Channel will have no alternative but to deploy Operation Stack. This will bring yet further misery to hauliers bound for mainland Europe and of course for the people and businesses of Kent.”
Despite efforts to reduce numbers by dismantling the slum’s southern section earlier this year, up to 9,000 migrants from countries including Sudan, Syria and Eritrea are living there in squalor. Despite efforts to reduce numbers by dismantling the camp’s southern section earlier this year, up to 9,000 migrants from countries including Sudan, Syria and Eritrea are living there in squalor.
People traffickers are reported to be going to extreme lengths in Calais in their efforts to reach the UK, with vehicles being torched, petrol bombs thrown and trees being cut down to block roads before drivers are threatened with chainsaws and machetes. People smugglers are reported to be going to extreme lengths in Calais to get people to the UK, with vehicles being torched, petrol bombs thrown and trees being felled to block roads before drivers are threatened with chainsaws and machetes.
Gangs are paid thousands of pounds by vulnerable people to get them to Calais, from where some are smuggled to Britain to work to pay off huge debts to traffickers. Gangs are paid thousands of pounds by vulnerable people to get them to Calais, from where some are smuggled to Britain to work to pay off huge debts.
People traffickers have allegedly been causing crashes on the roads to the port by hurling large objects at cars and then stowing away on lorries caught up in the traffic jams that pile up behind. People smugglers have allegedly been causing crashes on the roads to the port by hurling large objects at cars and then stowing away on lorries caught up in the traffic jams that pile up behind.
Press Association contributed to this report