Truckers in fear of thug migrant attacks in Calais
my own and if you get out of the vehicle your life’s in danger. I still think about it.
“It’s only a matter of time before somebody is seriously injured or killed or windows are smashed and people are dragged out of their trucks. It’s an unbelievable experience to go through.”
Vulnerable
Vaughan Woolfitt, managing director of Dewsbury- based Maru International, backed his drivers.
He said the firm was now routing lorries through Zeebrugge and Hull to avoid frightening incidents at French ports.
Mr Woolfitt added: “It is extremely intimidating and I think the French and UK authorities should be working really hard to make sure that trade is unhindered. Our drivers shouldn’t have to go to work fearing for their safety.” The Road Haulage Association agreed that drivers felt vulnerable and called for security to be improved.
The association, which represents haulage firms in the UK, said northern European ports needed improved fencing on approach roads and EU borders in Greece and Italy also needed to be made more secure.
The Home Office said: “We continue to strengthen the security of our borders to stop those who have no right to enter the UK.
“Using some of the best technology in the world, Border Force and the French authorities prevented more than 39,000 attempts to cross the Channel illegally in 2014/ 15 – more than double the number the previous year.”
POLICE SCOUR CAMPS FOR UK- BOUND TERRORISTS
UNDERCOVER police are infiltrating migrant groups in Calais to look for jihadists trying to sneak into the UK, it has been revealed.
Around 40 French flying squad detectives are trying to spot Islamic State extremists who could be hidden among up to 3,000 Arabs, Africans and Asians camped in and around the ferry terminal.
The elite unit has smashed six people- smuggling networks this year and works closely with the French equivalents of MI5 and MI6.
News of the operation came days after Italian police arrested a suspected Islamist militant allegedly involved in a deadly terror attack at the Bardo museum in Tunis in March. Abdelmajid Touil, 22, from Morocco, arrived in Italy on a migrant boat. It raised fears that jihadists are entering Europe by posing as asylum- seekers.
Calais local government spokesman Steve Barbet said: “All our resources are being directed towards detecting and eradicating any people- smuggling network.”
He spoke the day after the theft of a mobile phone sparked a mass brawl between 200 Sudanese and Afghans at a migrant camp.
Men armed with knives and iron bars battled each other and 14 people were injured. Police in the Calais area are vastly outnumbered by increasingly violent migrants.