Calais problems get worse.

Dezi

Dezi

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BBC news this morning showing people smugglers & smuggled people blocking the approach roads with trees and threatening drivers when they stop.

Mayor of Calais not a happy bunny and accuses the French government of "doing nothing to help". He wants to call the army in.

More interesting times ahead.

Dezi
 
I've never had any problems or seen any of this when I passed through a few weeks ago. Has anyone here any first hand experience of this?
 
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not a criticism but its gona turn into a rant mate and somebody is gonna have a go at you for posting wrongly you know what some are like
 
We travel early and haven't had a problem ....yet!
Think it's time to bring in armed forces
 
We have never had a problem despite seeing hundreds and hundreds of them with some getting very close indeed.

We`ve always crossed late morning / lunchtime so maybe that`s why, we don`t do daft o`clock just to save a couple of quid.

The wife has already said she can`t go over because she wouldn`t feel safe so we`re giving it a miss this time and will leave it until April / May next year :sad:
 
mandrake said:
not a criticism but its gona turn into a rant mate and somebody is gonna have a go at you for posting wrongly you know what some are like
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If it turns into a rant Mandrake then that would have nothing to do with me posting facts.
It would have everything to do with the personality of the ranter.

As you have no doubt spotted I do not condone or approve these charactors tactics, simply note them.

Footage shows Calais 'felled tree' tactic - BBC News

Dezi
 
Talbot said:
I've never had any problems or seen any of this when I passed through a few weeks ago. Has anyone here any first hand experience of this?
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Neither have we, but then we do not travel in the middle of the night.

Dezi
 
Simple solution -avoid Calais. We prefer to use either Dunquerque (DFDS often cheapest )or go Newhaven to Dieppe a quieter route and often not too much more.
 
We came back through Calais a couple of weekends back on two motorbikes mid afternoon, and saw the camp but not one refugee near or on the road.
The advice is quite clear, avoid dark O'clock ferries. :idea:
 
Three lots of us came back yesterday at 3pm, not a jot of trouble at any stage.

The problems started when we hit the uk - total chaos, basically a traffic jam from Dover to home. A three hour journey took six but still no migrants or trouble in sight.
 
I was on the Calais Aire end of July and there were 5 Migrants [ Eritreans ] on the quay there, I spent some time talking to them as they spoke reasonable English , they were all male and late teens , I felt very sorry for them as they only wanted a better life and seemed prepared to work for it, they saw England as the promised land and I tried to explain to them that they were likely to be exploited in England and life would not be as good as they expected but they were not about to change their minds.I gave them £20 to buy food, something I have never done before , they never asked me for money but I felt I wanted to do something to help them. You do not have to use the road to the docks that was shown on TV last night as if you drive from the Aire through Calais you miss that road completely. I have never had a problem at Calais or any where else for that matter.
 
The problems are occurring overnight, so there should hopefully be no problem in the day time.

My friend is a continental truck driver, and two weeks ago was driving to Calais late at night. There was a tree across the road and the car in front of her stopped, luckily to the side of the road. She barely managed to squeeze past the car, determined not to stop as that's what they want - to cause a jam so hundreds of people can get on board the build up of vehicles. She just kept going hoping to get past the tree and somehow she did manage to push/drag the tree out the way, but she had had to slow up to do it.

She reported the encounter to the police who came and removed 7 people from inside her trailer. When at the port the truck went through a heart beat monitor and two more were found (after the police had already checked). The routine is that they climb up the trailers and cut a huge hole in the top where they gain entry, and the cargo gets trashed in a bid for hiding places. It was terrifying for my friend and it cost the company (a very small firm) thousands, due to damaged trailer, vehicle off the road, and the entire cargo spoiled. The people were turned back out onto the roads.
 
vindiboy said:
I was on the Calais Aire end of July and there were 5 Migrants [ Eritreans ] on the quay there, I spent some time talking to them as they spoke reasonable English , they were all male and late teens , I felt very sorry for them as they only wanted a better life and seemed prepared to work for it, they saw England as the promised land and I tried to explain to them that they were likely to be exploited in England and life would not be as good as they expected but they were not about to change their minds.I gave them £20 to buy food, something I have never done before , they never asked me for money but I felt I wanted to do something to help them. You do not have to use the road to the docks that was shown on TV last night as if you drive from the Aire through Calais you miss that road completely. I have never had a problem at Calais or any where else for that matter.
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Well done that man. Its always good to hear the other side of the story from someone who has had first hand experience of what "most" of the migrants / refugees are like. I dont know if anyone saw the excellent Exodus three part documentaries a couple of months ago on BBC. It blew me away and I was close to tears. The media has a lot to answer for IMO. A lot of these people are genuinely trying to escape hell on earth war zones and despite what many over here think its a very small percentage that head for the UK. They are exploited by these scumbag smugglers that you saw in the video all the way.

They are sold life jackets in Turkey that are fake and actually prevent you floating rather than save you. One family was charged €11000 for their place in an unsafe rubber dinghy to Paxos from Turkey. The ferry legal ferry fare I think is €20. :( They are told the boats are safe and will have a driver yet they are overloaded to three times their max capacity and they are pushed out to sea to fend for themselves where with bit of luck if they dont sink they will be picked up by the coast guard. Chance are they are returned to Turkey with no refund of course but hopefully alive.

Any that make it to Calais, Germany or Scandinavia etc deserve looking after. Not a risk any of us would contemplate doing I am sure and thankfully we dont have to.

I tend to hit Calais at around 10am and have never had a problem.
 
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We came back via tunnel a couple of weeks ago .Saturday 1.20am booking.Got delayed by 4 hours at the terminal,but never saw any migrants or probs whatsoever.Havent had any problems on previous trips going over or coming back.Just in case,we had all doors double locked .
We were queued with several other vans/campervans,and never saw any being checked inside.
Rod
 
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If you cross in daylight hours I don't think there will be much of a problem.It wouldn't deter me from using the port,I just wouldn't use a night time crossing.I can see why some people would not want to use calais though and I think the alternative routes will inevitably become more popular.
 
We came back Dieppe /Newhaven last year.At the passport check the guy asked if we had any stowaways on board.Told him we came this way to avoid all the Calais hassle.He reckoned they get them there occasionaly as well.
Rod
 
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