Calais migrant crisis 'could impact on British economy' amid summer of travel chaos
Eurotunnel and the UK freight industry have warned of knock-on effects
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The British economy could be hit by a summer of travel chaos stemming from the Calais migrant crisis, warn Eurotunnel and the UK freight industry, as holidaymakers faced a weekend of gridlock on the South-east’s roads.
A brief suspension of Eurotunnel services on Friday night, after migrants got into the Eurotunnel from the French side, led to long delays for passengers travelling from Folkestone on Saturday. Parts of the M20 motorway were shut for a further day, to allow lorries waiting to cross the channel to queue.
Operation Stack has been in effect for 13 days out of the past 20 as a result of disruption at Calais caused by the migrant crisis, industrial action by ferry workers and protests by French farmers.
Travellers diverted on to the A20 faced long queues, and ferry services from Dover were also hit by delays of up to two hours.
John Keefe, Eurotunnel’s spokesman, said that disruption from migrants “making attempts to get on to trucks, to climb over fences, to get close to the trains” had become a nightly occurrence, leading to shutdowns. He described the situation as a “humanitarian crisis” and urged governments on both sides of the Channel to commit to “serious action” to stop the flow of migrants into the port.
“Otherwise the impact will be on the UK and French economies,” he said. “The value of trade across the straits is somewhere in the region of £200bn a year and it’s being affected every single night. It’s the goods going into our supermarkets. It’s our exports. The governments have to take the responsibility for that and deliver some solutions, which so far they haven’t achieved.” Mr Keefe added that Eurotunnel had been issuing leaflets in nine different languages in migrant camps in Calais, where 5,000 people are now thought to be staying, warning of the dangers of entering the tunnel.
“Everyone talks about ‘the migrants’ in a broad generalisation, but these are individuals with stories and lives, in many cases tragic histories that have brought them to this point,” he said. “They’re living in dreadful conditions around Calais, and they just want one thing, which is to get to the UK.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments