Calais chaos grows
IN FRANCE: NEW BURNING TYRE PROTEST AT CALAIS
Billowing clouds of toxic black smoke rose over Calais yesterday as militant French ferry workers closed the road to the port with a blockade of burning tyres.
Fire crews and riot police simply watched as the men fed more tyres – and the occasional fire cracker – into the furnace sprawling across both sides of the A216.
Though the road was closed and diversions put in place, the blockade caused miles of tailbacks for British-bound travellers on the A16 and A26 motorways – with migrants taking advantage of the chaos by stowing themselves in queuing lorries.
it followed a night of chaos in Calais, as migrants began deploying new ‘battering ram’ techniques in their desperate attempts to reach Britain.
The 300 striking ferry workers are protesting against plans to sell off two MyFerrylink ships to Danish rival firm DFDS, which will result in around 400 job losses.
French union leader Eric Vercoutre has been accused of exploiting the chaos caused by migrants breaking into the Eurotunnel terminal to paralyse all cross- Channel links between the UK and France. A spokesman for the Port of Calais said: ‘The migrant situation is already making it deeply frustrating for UK- bound tourists and lorry drivers in Calais.
‘Hitting the port with a blockade is a soft target by a union with no sympathy for the travelling public.’
At the Eurotunnel terminal, Thursday saw groups of migrants up to 200 strong storming security fences en masse, giving the vastly outnumbered police little chance of stopping them all. Every time at least a handful succeed in getting over fences protecting Eurotunnel trains, or into lorries bound for the UK. The tactics were in evidence all through the night and into the early hours of yesterday morning.
in one instance six police officers could do little to hold back a group of 50 men who ran at them. The migrants cheered as they breached the police line and sprinted off into the distance. All the police could do was get back inside their van and drive after them, by which time the men had fled in different directions.
A short time later, 200 migrants tried to storm the Channel Tunnel itself. As a train from the UK pulled in they rushed at an exit where cars leaving the tunnel join a main road, causing British holidaymakers to swerve to avoid them. A handful made it through before riot police formed a cordon.
A stand-off between the migrants and the police ensued as more and more migrants appeared from all directions to join the crowd. Amid the chaos, a number began to scale the fence – a loud cheer going up every time one succeeded.
Police said 1,000 attempts were made to enter the Eurotunnel ‘secure zone’ on Thursday, resulting in 30 arrests. This brings the total to 5,000 attempts since Sunday.
A police source in Calais said migrants had ‘adapted’ their tactics recently. ‘They were trying to get through in small groups before, but now they come at us in large numbers,’ they said. ‘The idea is to cause absolute chaos, so that at least some get through. we are limited in number and can’t be everywhere.’
women and children have also been spotted breaking into the secure zone this week, with migrants seen helping young children over fences and through holes. The police source added: ‘it doesn’t stop. we have had to deal with gangs of young men, but also families.’
Ten migrants have died in the last two months, with dozens more injured trying to board moving trucks and trains. Extra police have been deployed but officers are still overwhelmed. Their efforts are often futile, as once a migrant is moved on they simply return an hour later to try again. Police make few arrests, as processing the hundreds stopped each night would take too long.
An estimated 5,000 migrants now live in the Calais camps. The Channel Tunnel is their main focus after ferry port security was improved.
Eurotunnel said its struggling security staff had helped stop 37,000 migrants trying to enter Britain this year alone. it confirmed migrants have become better organised, mounting nightly attempts in large groups to storm the facilities.
Jean-Marc Puissesseau, president of Cote d’opal Chamber of Commerce – which owns the Calais port, yesterday insisted it was ‘now 100 per cent safe’ after 12ft fencing was erected around it and along approach roads.
But he admitted 250 migrants a week were still found inside after entering lorries elsewhere and being driven in by unsuspecting drivers.
Trying to paralyse all cross-Channel links