Did They Brussels Ferry Close Again
Summary of today's events in Calais
Now that things seem to have calmed down in Calais, it seems like a good time to wrap up the blog. Here's a summary of what happened their today.
- Thousands of travellers were stuck on both sides of the travel after French sailors launched a wildcat strike against plans by their employer to sell off two ferries.
- Workers blocked the port of Calais then the entrance to the Channel tunnel with burning barricades, snarling up traffic in the area and across the sea in Kent. Calais remained blocked for most of the day.
- Migrants camped out in Calais took advantage of the heavy traffic to try to sneak aboard slow-moving vehicles they hoped might take them to Britain.
- Meanwhile, hundreds of Eurostar passengers found themselves stuck at St Pancras station after Eurostar cancelled all their trains until tomorrow.
- Kent Police responded to the disruption of cross-Channel ferries from Dover by turning the M20 southbound into one long lorry park. The force has said it's Operation Stack contingency plan will remain in place until tomorrow.
- The deputy mayor of Calais, Philippe Mignonet, reiterated calls for the English border to be moved to Calais. The move would make UK authorities responsible for migrants waiting there to try to travel across the Channel.
- The National Crime Agency issued a warning in its annual report that the number of migrants attempting to make the crossing between Calais and Dover is expected to increase.
Ferries are now moving again between Dover and Calais
Boats from Dover to Calais resumed at about 6pm, a spokesman for P&O said. But there is a backlog which the shipping company will work overnight to clear.
Dan Bridget, the spokesman for P&O, said: "The aspiration is by tomorrow we should be back to normal. Obviously we will be in touch with passengers if that's not the case."
The backlog was not too severe because many passengers had heeded warnings to stay away from the Channel crossing for the day, Bridget said.
By coincidence. the National Crime Agency warned that the number of migrants trying to sneak into Britain from Calais is set to increase.
The figure is set to grow because of the "sheer scale" of migrants in the French port town, the agency said. Detection of "irregular migrants" more than doubled in the UK last year and "this is likely to continue on an upward trend", it concluded.
"The biggest threat emanates from the North Africa into Italy route, use of which rose by over 300% in 2014," the agency said in its yearly National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime.
Foreign Office tells Britons travelling through Calais: "Keep your doors locked"
The Foreign Office has updated its advice to Britons travelling to France through the port of Calais. It is warning drivers to keep doors locked in slow-moving traffic and make sure to lock up when they park their vehicles. The warning says:
Following industrial action at both Calais Port and at Eurotunnel in Coquelles, cross channel services including Eurostar have been disrupted. Check the status of your booking with your operator before leaving home.
There are large numbers of illegal migrants in and around Calais, who may seek to enter the UK illegally. Although local police patrols have been reinforced, you should keep vehicle doors locked in slow moving traffic and secure your vehicle when it is left unattended.
This footage, uploaded by BBC News, shows migrants desperate to reach Britain hopping into the back of lorries crawling down roads to the port of Calais.
Chris Cary, a lorry driver, earlier told the Guardian that would-be migrants had tried to leap aboard his curtainside lorry as he drove around Calais. Paula and Bill Brady, two pensioners from Shrewsbury who were returning from holiday in France, also described seeing men waiting by the side of the road for vehicles they could leap aboard.
Thousands of migrants are living around camps in the port of Calais in the hopes of stowing away on vehicles making their way to Britain.
These are the latest pictures from St Pancras station, the London terminal of the Eurostar service. Passengers hoping to reach France are stuck after Eurostar cancelled its trains for the rest of the day.
Eurostar says its workers have managed to make an assessment of the damage caused to its tracks by fires started by striking French sailors.
The fire has damaged parts of the track used by our trains, engineers will work on repairs overnight and services will resume tomorrow.
— Eurostar (@Eurostar) June 23, 2015
Philippe Mignonet, the deputy mayor of Calais, has reiterated calls from French politicians for the border to be moved from northern France to Britain.
Such a move would make British authorities responsible for the migrants trying to cross the Channel and start a new life in the UK. Mignonet told the BBC:
Calais is not the destination. As you've heard, (migrants) want to get into trucks, they want to get to England.
England has got to realise that it is not our responsibility. The English border is in Calais and I'm requesting, such as (Calais mayor) Natacha Bouchart, for the border to be transferred back in Dover and in Folkestone.
We can't just accept any more, to be blamed for immigrancy. Again, they want to go to England, they are not coming to Calais, they go through Calais to get to England.
Operation Stack to remain in place overnight and into tomorrow
Hundreds of lorries are parked up along the M20 southbound towards the port of Dover as part of Kent police's Operation Stack.
The contingency plan effectively turns the motorway into one long, narrow lorry park while there are disruptions to sea travel between Dover and Calais.
Kent police said in a statement that they could remain their overnight.
"The industrial action in France is expected to last until this evening (23 June)," the force said in a statement. "As a result, Operation Stack will be in place overnight and into tomorrow until the backlog of traffic has cleared."
Normal traffic is being diverted onto the A20 from Junction 8 (Hollingbourne) and rejoining the motorway at Junction 9 (Ashford West).
These are the departure boards at London St Pancras station's Eurostar terminal. The one consistent message? Cancelled
What is the cause of today's disruption? French sailors are protesting plans to sell off two of their employer's ferries to a rival firm. AFP has more details:
The sailors, from the French ferry company MyFerryLink, were protesting plans by Eurotunnel to sell two of their ferries to rival firm DFDS.
Eurotunnel announced in May it was halting its operational partnership with MyFerryLink due to legal complications, and this month decided to sell its ferries to Danish group DFDS.
"It's out of the question that DFDS takes our boats. Never, never," exclaimed the head of the main union on strike, Eric Vercoutre, who took up position with around 100 colleagues at the entrance to the tunnel in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
"We've been betrayed," he said.
Unions say they fear as many as 120 jobs could be at risk from the potential sale.
Local MP Yann Capet said he was "furious" at the company's actions.
"When you're a big boss, you need to show responsibility and the social responsibility of a company can't just be a slogan," he said.
Another protester said: "We just don't understand. The boats work very well... We're ready to get going again but I don't know when."
"French workers threw things at me when I sped through their barricade"
Chris Cary, a truck driver, has been stuck in Calais for nearly 14 hours with a load of energy drinks. He had hoped to catch a ferry back to Dover in the early hours of this morning, but found himself trapped when the terminal closed.
He said he's one of seven or eight drivers from the same haulage company, MJD, who are stuck on either side of the Channel due to the industrial action. Both refugees and striking workers have tried to attack his lorry, he said.
"I've got a curtain-sider. Migrants try to cut through, they break the seals off, they smash you padlocks off. As soon as that door opens they are in there and it's like Black Friday," Cary said, referring to the manic behaviour shoppers during the US discount shopping day that comes close to Thanksgiving.
No migrants were able to get in his truck, he said, but he had seen other drivers' vehicles broken into. Many of the would-be migrants were armed with knives and crowbars, he said.
Cary said he faced attacks from striking French workers when he tried to make a last-minute switch to the Channel tunnel. He faced burning barricades when he arrived at that terminal. "I saw a lot of smoke, got a bit closer and the road's on fire where they barricaded it," Cary said.
Cary said it looked like workers had piled bales of hay with burning tyres in the road, but he decided to put his foot down and drive through. "They tried to throw things at me, throw things at my truck because I went through their barricade," he said.
The French army were out alongside the riot police, Cary said, and soldiers were also patrolling the ferry terminal, where he was now stuck waiting for a ferry. But he said he wasn't surprised by what he saw. "That's just a normal day at Calais," he said.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2015/jun/23/cross-channel-trains-suspended-strike-french-ferry-workers-calais
0 Response to "Did They Brussels Ferry Close Again"
Post a Comment