Truck drivers repeat demand for French military at Calais
The Road Haulage Association renews its call for French military at Calais, as migrants once again surge upon British trucks.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has renewed its call for urgent deployment of the French military to restore law and order at Calais.
This follows news that the Port of Calais has once again become the target for migrants, intent on reaching the UK on the back of UK-bound trucks.
“With the EU Referendum just two days away, this is a momentous week for UK business in general and international hauliers in particular,” said RHA chief executive Richard Burnett.
“The increase in security at Calais following the migrant action earlier this year was, without doubt effective. However, the violence we have seen over the past couple of days clearly demonstrates that the positive effects were temporary.
“It is clear that security at the Port must, once again must be increased and we stand firm by our original call to deploy the French military – not just within the Port area but also on the approach roads.”
It has been reported that up to 5,000 migrants are still camped at Calais, 200-300 of whom clashed with police and slowed traffic on Monday, allowing many to climb on board UK-bound trucks.
Commenting earlier this year, President of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie region, Xavier Bertrand said: “If Britain leaves Europe, right away the border will leave Calais and go to Dover. We will not continue to guard the border for Britain if it’s no longer in the European Union.”
Burnett added: “If Border Force controls revert to British soil, then vehicle checks become our responsibility, and migrants will already be on this side of the Channel before being discovered.”
