Asylum seekers “set fire to barricades across the motorway” to stop trucks, in a bid to hide inside the vehicles to gain access to the UK, according to the FTA, whose membership includes lorry drivers of food and drink businesses.
The night of violence came just over a month after the chairman of the Scottish Seafood Association (SSA) complained nothing was being done to protect UK food and drink firms from damage caused by Calais protests.
Travel sector losses due to the chaos was estimated to be £21M. The FTA said millions of pounds worth of fruit and vegetables were dumped after delayed deliveries.
One truck driver was threatened with a chainsaw during the night, as he tried to reach the port at Calais. His manager told police: “Please do something, there will be deaths. Our drivers are threatened every night.”
‘Burned by migrants’
Elsewhere, pictures and videos emerged on social media of a lorry set on fire by the side of the road. A Facebook page Les Calaisiens en Colère said: “The truck in this photo was burned by migrants. They were violent.
“Migrants stormed the ring road and built a fire dam, and they threw stones at anything that moved.” However, it was not possible to authenticate the claims made by the group.
FTA’s EU affairs manager Chris Yarsley said: “These drivers are just trying to do their job, moving goods from Europe to the UK through the country’s busiest port.
“Attacks like this are unacceptable and more needs to be done to protect them as they go about their work.”
Following the violence, the FTA backed a Home Affairs Committee report, which called for the government to maintain border controls in Calais, as opposed to in the UK. The Migration Crisis report said the border controls in France protect the UK against terrorism and criminal gangs.
Yarsley said: “FTA recognises the pressures on governments on both sides of the channel in terms of domestic security. However, the juxtaposed border controls and security investments must continue to help guarantee the security of UK-bound drivers and vehicles, who simply wish to perform their job and continue to deliver the UK economy.
‘Against both nations’ interests’
“A lot of bilateral cooperation and investment has already taken place – it would be against both nations’ interests to remove what is already in place and functioning. Improving what is there is the key – not taking it away.”
Latest figures show the number of migrants camped in Calais has risen to 7,000. The FTA said migrants were now more determined to cross the Channel, before any changes to UK border controls took effect, following the Brexit vote.
Meanwhile, the FTA issued a five-point plan to remedy the chaos in Calais, in May. The organisation said disruptions caused by protesters should not be allowed to happen again.
FTA’s five-point plan to avoid Calais transport chaos
1. Move migrant camp away from the motorway and Eurotunnel facility to deter migrants from attempting to board commercial vehicles and trains
2. Secure the Port of Calais and Eurotunnel facility against incursion by migrants and to complete the secure parking zone in the port area for use by operators
3. Highlight to the British and French governments the need to maintain the juxtaposed border controls and invest in police and security arrangements to guarantee that drivers’ rights to safe passage through the port are respected
4. Support registration of migrants and processing of asylum claims by the French authorities to legitimise and control those camped out around Calais
5. Declare the port of Calais and Eurotunnel facility as off-limits to any industrial protests