RHA launches Calais hotline as migrant crisis deepens
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has announced the launch of a new Calais incident reporting line, which it says will allow hauliers and drivers affected by incidents of intimidation or incursion by migrants at the port to report them 24 hours a day.
The service will be available to all drivers, regardless of nationality, the association said. Callers will be asked to give their name, the exact location and nature of the incident, and whether damage was sustained to their vehicle or cargo. The information will then be passed to Home Office and Border Force officials.
The association has had thousands of wallet-sized cards printed with the new phone number – (+44) 1274 863111 – as well as French and UK emergency services numbers. The cards will be issued to drivers by ferry operators P&O and DFDS, and the initiative is also being supported by the Port of Dover, and Truck & Driver magazine.
The RHA said it continued to process worrying feedback from operators on the extent of the problems at Calais.
“We are very concerned about the amount and scale of the reports we are receiving,” said chief executive Richard Burnett (pictured).
“They include instances of hauliers being threatened with baseball bats, while others have been subject to migrants throwing bricks off motorway bridges. We have also had several eyewitness accounts of migrants deliberately putting obstacles in the road, with the sole aim of slowing vehicles down to make them more ‘accessible’.
“This is a situation that is both out of control and totally unacceptable for those who are, quite simply, doing their job. The reporting line will provide the evidence and understanding needed to ensure we get the protection that the haulage industry is entitled to expect.”
Earlier in the month, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) spoke out about violent clashes between migrants and police near the Calais ‘Jungle’ camp, which local residents had described as “like a war.”
250 French riot police were sent to the area to prevent rioters from impeding traffic at the port, resulting in the deployment of tear gas. At least 26 officers were injured in the fracas, which reportedly saw them subjected to rock-throwing attacks.
FTA’s deputy chief executive James Hookham said: “This is utterly unacceptable. Calais is back in crisis and truck operators and their drivers are again in the firing line – sometimes literally. The reported actions of migrants has crossed a line. Whatever your views on the plight of migrants and asylum seekers no-one has a right to threaten, intimidate or physically attack drivers and other innocent bystanders.
“FTA expects and demands safe passage for truck drivers and other port users going about their lawful business. This must be the primary concern of French and British governments before someone gets seriously injured, or even killed.”
FTA had been filming in Calais with truck driver Euan Fleming, who said: “Your heart is in your mouth when you drive through Calais, but we have no choice than to travel through the port and I absolutely dread being here. It is common place to see gangs of migrants armed with weapons; they have attacked my own truck using Stanley knives to cut holes into the roof to get into the trailer.”
