Caught up in asylum battles

Caught up in asylum battles

17 June 2015

SEAFORDE lorry driver Euan Fleming is witnessing at first hand the dramatic scenes in Calais as migrants and asylum seekers target lorry drivers in a desperate bid to get into the UK.

Disturbing images of mostly men surrounding freight lorries, trying to force their way 

into trailers or clinging on to axles are beamed into people’s homes almost nightly as the plight intensifies of those desperate to make it to the UK in search of better work opportunities and safety.

The situation is now so bad that migrants are setting up road blocks to force lorry drivers to stop. When they do, migrants are cutting their way into trailers using knives while others are wrapping themselves in brake cables as they cling perilously to axles under the 40 foot long trailers.

Last week, Euan was joined in his lorry by a BBC film crew in Calais to highlight just how bad the situation is and the daily gauntlet he and other cross-channel lorry drivers have to run as they wait to board ferries for Britain with gangs of men waiting to charge their lorries.

The Seaforde man — who works for the Blair International Transport haulage company — regularly drives past several thousand migrants, mostly from Sudan, Eritrea and Syria who live in a makeshift village in Calais known as ‘the jungle.’ 

Some of the migrants who have fled war zones say the situation is so bad in their respective countries that they would prefer dying trying to escape and sneak into Britain.

Euan said there is little doubt the situation is getting worse with migrants increasingly desperate to make it to the UK, doing anything they can to gain access to freight lorries. 

The Seaforde man’s film aired last week during the Victoria Derbyshire programme on the BBC when he said some drivers are now taking on the role of amateur immigration officers when they reach Calais.

A father of two young children, Euan regularly checks the locks on his trailer and revealed that during one check he came across a mother who had nothing with her, no bags or packages and that along with one of his colleagues he had to tell the woman to get out of his trailer.

Admitting lorry driving has become increasingly dangerous in Calais, Euan said drivers caught with migrants in their vehicles when they arrive in the UK face a fine of £2,000 per person. He said while some drivers were sympathetic with migrants fleeing oppression in their countries, they are not prepared to pay heavy fines with sympathy for the migrants running out among hauliers.

Forty three year-old Euan has been driving lorries for over two decades and says he and his colleagues are finding the situation in Calais increasingly intimidating. 

He has taken images of migrants entering UK-bound trucks parked in front of his own lorry and revealed they are armed with Stanley knives to help them cut their way into the trailers.

Euan admits he does not enjoy his job as much as once did due to what he has to deal with every time he approaches Calais, but says he is not alone as many other drivers feel the same way.

“The BBC film provided an insight into what the drivers are confronted with and what they have to deal with when they reach port to board ferries for the UK. If the film has done anything it has brought home to people just how bad the situation really is,” he continued.

“There is no do doubt the migrants are starting to get very aggressive. They are slicing holes in the curtains of the trailers and you have to be either very brave or foolish to get out to someone armed with a Stanley knife.”

Euan said drivers do not get out and stay inside their cabs if migrants gain access to their trailers and keep going until they reach where French riot police are based and let officers get the migrants off the trucks.

He continued: “Your heart is always in your mouth that one of the migrants has somehow accessed your trailer and makes it to the UK which incurs fines for either the driver or the company he works for. Thankfully, this has not happened to me.

“The situation is now so bad that lorries are driven through an X-ray machine in Calais which can detect human heartbeats. Most of the migrants are young men who have made their way to France to head for the UK where they know the benefits system is generous. In France migrants cannot claim benefits for four years so you can see why so many want to make it to Britain.”

The film the Seaforde lorry driver appears in can be viewed on line by logging on at the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire website.