How they cut their way into lorries bound for the UK
AS LORRIES queue at Calais, a group of migrants look for a chance to stowaway to Britain undetected.
Suddenly a young man climbs underneath a trailer being pulled by a lorry. Moments later he appears in the gap between the trailer and the lorry and climbs on to the roof.
Meanwhile, his friends stroll to the front of the lorry and distract the driver.
The climber lies still for a moment to make sure no one has noticed his clandestine operation. Gradually he crawls forward on the roof of the lorry and starts cutting the canvas roof with a knife.
Two of his friends soon join him. By then the man has cut a hole big enough to allow him to slide headfirst into the lorry. The other two follow suit, lowering themselves into the hold of the lorry. Their friends who had been distracting the driver then move on to another lorry.
Moments later the lorry drives off to board a ferry bound for Dover. The fate of those inside the lorry remains unknown.
When the Mail witnessed this brazen attempt to reach Britain on Wednesday afternoon, the nearest French police officer was at least 400 yards away.
Our reporters saw up to 100 migrants trying to clamber on to queuing lorries. There are not nearly enough officers to
‘They did not
arrest me’
stop all the migrants from climbing on board lorries bound for the UK.
And when migrants are stopped from carrying out this dangerous and illegal manoeuvre, they are merely told to move on rather than arrested.
Raja, a 23-year-old Afghan chef, told the Mail yesterday: ‘I tried to get inside a lorry today but the police caught me. They were too quick this time.
‘But they did not arrest me. They just said, “You’ve got no chance today”. I’m sad but I will try again tomorrow.’
Experts believe up to 30 of the 2,500 migrants in Calais make it to Britain every day on ferry crossings to Dover.
In a bid to tackle the problem, crossChannel haulage firms have told lorry drivers to avoid Calais because of confrontations with knife-wielding migrants.
Drivers are instead being advised to use other ports – including Cherbourg, Boulogne and Dunkirk.
British lorry drivers, who are fined £2,000 if found carrying an illegal migrant, said ‘extremely light-touch’ policing by the French meant they were ‘sitting ducks’ for those wanting to smuggle themselves across the Channel.