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FRENCH FARMERS AND truckers have this morning launched a joint operation to block off main routes in and out of Calais to call for the closure of the sprawling “Jungle” migrant camp there.
Around 70 trucks began a “go-slow” on the main A16 motorway – the main artery for freight and passengers heading for Britain either via the Channel Tunnel or the Calais port.
Farmers are expected to join the demonstration later on their tractors and the organisers are hoping for up to 500 people to join a “human chain” protest at the main entry to the port later today.
“We’ve had no answers, so we’re blocking things up,” said Frederic Van Gansbeke, who represents businesses and shop-owners in Calais.
The Jungle, a camp of makeshift tents and shelters, is home to around 7,000 migrants but charities say the number might be as high as 10,000 after an influx this summer.
Migrants from the camp often use tree branches to create roadblocks to slow trucks heading for Britain, their destination of choice.
When the trucks slow down, migrants try to clamber into the trailers to stow away aboard.
Some drivers say migrants have attacked their vehicles with metal bars and that the overstretched police are unable to protect them.
Nicolas Lotin, who runs a logistics company in nearby Boulogne-sur-Mer said: “Every day, we have to wonder whether our working day will be ruined, whether a migrant will sneak under the truck’s canvas.”
“If the goods are damaged, they have to be immediately transported back to the home depot,” he said.
‘Closure as rapidly as possible’
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve promised during a visit to the camp last week to close it down “as rapidly as possible” but said it would be done in stages.
But disgruntled Calais residents want the authorities to set a date for the entire camp to be shut down.
Bars and restaurants in Calais – which is also the main gateway to France for millions of British holidaymakers – say their trade has been severely hit by the presence of the “Jungle”.
France has made repeated efforts to shut down the camp.
Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart, who has often clashed with the government over the issue, claims the camp may soon contain as many as 15,000 migrants if authorities take several months to dismantle it.
Earlier this year, authorities cleared shelters in parts of the site in a bid to persuade migrants to move into more permanent accommodation or camps elsewhere on France’s northern coast.
Last week France and Britain pledged to work together to increase security at the port of Calais and to improve the situation for the residents of the Jungle.
But the British government has dismissed as a “complete non-starter” a proposal by Xavier Bertrand, the president of the region which includes Calais, to allow migrants to lodge British asylum claims on French soil.
The population of the Jungle includes large numbers of Sudanese, Afghan, Somali and Syrian residents.
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The camp needs to close as soon as possible it’s ridiculous it’s been left open this long
How would you solve the problem then?
Close the camp and put 7000 people where? Many are the people who have come from Syria, Somalia etc. They have no home and have nowhere to go. While I’m no Mother Teresa, there are many people who didnt want to leave their home but had no choice, a direct result of foreign policy & greed of major nations. Same shite, different century.
Evict them, pure and simple. Abide by the Dublin Protocol and send them back to the first safe country that they landed in as was agreed previously.
Close the camp, make them apply for asylum in the first eu country they arrived in, deport those who refuse. Do you think that they should be allowed to stay there until they manage to illegally enter Britain
They are laying in wait to break into peoples vehicles and illegaly enter Britain it’s an outrage that French authorities are enabling this lawlessness. Follow the rules, round them up and send them back to the first country they arrived in.
http://www.thelocal.se/20160903/swedish-pediatrician-some-refugee-children-nearly-40 Meanwhile in Sweden. This is hilarious tbh.
About 40% are between 20 and 25 years! It is hilarious but worrying at the same time …
“We have no answers so wer blocking things up”…. and I thought our framers wer bad….
Their framers probably see the bigger picture.
The left wing liberals have pushed Europe to the brink…. idilic utopian everyone living in harmony won’t work when there are people ready to take advantage of western generosity.
That’s why they Mounted the protests.
the Dublin Protocol has been shown to be unworkable, its been made a fool of.
The Dublin Protocol is only unworkable because of countries like Greece and Germany basically ignoring it.
Greece should have been rounding up the boats departing from Turkey and shipping the occupants directly back to Turkey. Any Syrians landing from Syria directly should have been processed by Greece and then further distributed to member states that agreed to take them.
Instead the left-wing Greek government put their ‘conscience’ ahead of common sense and decided to take in any and every illegal immigrant that landed there. Of course anyone with a brain could have predicted that they would soon find themselves completely overwhelmed. Mama Merkel, in her rush to be seen as an actual human being after her callous handling of the Euro crisis, opened up the doors and completely bypassed the Dublin Protocol.
The failing wasn’t in the Dublin Protocol. The failing was in the bleeding hearts who decided to completely ignore it rather than taking the harsh decisions that this crisis required.
Thats a very simple ? To Germany of course – To accept the invitation from Merkel for her ‘CHEAP LABOUR Market’ – to keep the German Economy going.
@beachmaster – Irish Farmers only see whats in it for them. Time to bring in NEW ZEALAND, BRAZIL & any other foreign lamb – The prices charged here are scandalous. FREE MARKET me a#se.
Send in the bulldozers already. The illegal encampment is a disgrace and totally unfair on locals and truck drivers trying to do their jobs.
It has to be handed to the French. They know how to do a protest right. Fair play to them.
Protest right? Youve since Parisian Riots?
Deport them all !! If you can figure out where they come from that is!!
They see Britain as the promised land and don’t want to apply for asylum in France
Who could blame them
Or any of the other number of countries they marched through on their way to France.
Stop the bull shit why did these refugees not go to Saudi Arabia or UAE. They won’t take them in. Sorry but grow up ask the big question why travel thousands of miles but not go to Pease loving muslim brothers in there arab loving brothers
would you choose saudi arabia over europe?
Take a look at the countless videos by truck drivers entering the port and you’ll soon see why they have had enough. Crazy situation. The French don’t know what to do and now with Brexit they know there is no chance the UK will take any legally
all the french have to do is stop stopping them at calais and the british will have a huge problem.
And here we are in Ireland contributing to the problem in Calais by encouraging Electric Pinic campers to donate their tens for the Jungle in Calais. Shame on us Ireland. We have no consideration for the people let alone the Irish people that are attached by the illegal immigrants that have set up camp around Calais.
I heard you couldn’t go 2 feet in Electric Picnic without been harassed by someone fool from Amnesty trying to get you to sign a petition for unlimited immigration – disgrace if its true, people paying over 500 for a weekend and been bombarded by no borders extremists
the poor dears!
Solidarity with the people of Calais and those whose lives are affected by this dangerous situation that has been allowed to continue by the French authorities.
There is no doubt that there is a plan to flood Europe with an unending wave of migrants – Elites like George Soros and Peter Sutherland don’t deny or even try to hide their plans to destroy nationality and identity in Europe. Without are identify and culture we are nothing we have no purpose , no shared values – perfect for the globalists.
Time the Europeans started fighting back .
We have our own Navy aiding and abetting Human Traffickers in the Mediterranean and their actions lauded as ‘heroic’ – When will the madness end?
*our identity –
thought i would correct my own grammar error before some libtard jumps in and screams “Your point is wrong cuz you no spell so good “
your point is wrong cuz its paranoid ravings
It is a win for the migrants.
If the camp is destroyed then there is nothing stopping these scientists & engineers from either claiming asylum in France or if they really want to work in the UK, to apply for a work permit….. just like everyone else has to.
Simple.
They don’t want to claim asylum in France, that’s why the camp is in Calais in the first place. They don’t want to settle in France for economic reasons and instead demand unrestricted entry into the UK.
Honestly how anyone can consider these people refugees when they are actively shopping for asylum locations is beyond me.
Back to point of landing and process from there. There’s a lot more people out there who are willing go through legitimate channels, women and children in need of assistance. Why should these men and 25yo teenagers be allowed to skip the queue at the expense of the others. These and other queue jumpers around Europe are whats causing the backlash against immigration. The camps are illegal and should be demolished and a rule brought in (and widely publicised) that immigrants who circumvent the law are automatically deported, war zone or not. If you told a Afghan he was going back to his home in Syria I’d bet he’d soon produce his real birth cert.
Huh? an Afghan going home to Syria?
A lot of them are claiming to be fleeing the war in Syria, without papers of course.
Less than 40% there are from Syria… There’s huge amounts of Afghani’s, Pakistanis, Eritreans, etopians and Nigerians. Mostly males between 20 and 30 which means a vast majority are economic migrants drifting in with the genuine refugees ready to take advantage or Western liberal guilt
You can compare immigrants from Europe going to America with what is happening now. Those immigrants were white Christian Europeans going to countries founded by white Christian Europeans. Trying to assimilate non white Islamic people who hate the country they want into is a totally different matter. Also the USA and Canada were young countries then with huge unpopulated areas. Europe is already overcrowded.
“We” didn’t do anything. Hope that helps. If you want to feel guilty like an idiot over what other countries did down through the centuries , then by all means do.
How little Irish people know about the wider world is keenly evident in threads like this and Irish people know more than most. I know I am privileged and have left leaning outlook on life but these camps and the western approach to the worlds problems are a waste of time from what I have seen. Overpopulation in countries that already had weak systems and other problems is the big issue. Put the money into changing the culture to reduce population and increase education levels .. How you do that. …
Judging by a lot of comments on here, it’s a good thing our ancestors who were forced to emirate – were met with more help and sympathy. We have short memories…
Our ancestors were not met with help and sympathy.
In the US, Irish people who couldn’t work when stepping off the boats were sent right back to Ireland and many died on that return journey. Those who were accepted most often lived in slums working dangerous labour-intensive jobs. The Irish in Australia were there due to the fact that it was a massive prison camp and hardly lived a life of luxury. The Irish in the UK often worked back-breaking jobs in construction and farming as that was ‘all they were good for’.
The people who say that the Irish have short memories generally don’t understand anything of our history or the history of the Irish diaspora.
Like during the us civil war u mean when the men were drafted straight off the boat and women and children left to fend for themselves. These migrants could have applied for asylum in any country they passed thru on the way to Calais but demand they should b let enter Britain
Without the assistance of the three countries you mention, many more would have died. And our countrymen are still going to them! I was grateful to work in all three.
When the Irish went to the US there was a big demand for unskilled labour
That is what all the young men in the jungle have
Britain and Europe don’t need thousands of unskilled labourers
France has 20% youth unemployment already
They need money and help to return to their own countries
There needs to be a Jungle in every country. Bring a bit of life and business to dying port towns.
Your Troll game is weak
They do have a point, but it must be said that French truckers & farmers do love to protest.
We in the west have bombed two prosperous Middle East countries Iraq and Libya back to the Stone Age we have made millions homeless there are no border controls in Libya the homeless and desperate are streaming through, perhaps it’s time we admitted and attempted to atone for those atrocities
You just have to be taking the plss!
What’s with all this “We” business? If you want to take credit for the disaster that’s befalling this great continent of Europe, then be my guest. But don’t speak for me or anyone else that doesn’t want a single one of those scroungers to take root here, let alone hundreds of thousands of them.
“WE” did this, “WE” have to do that. YOU make me sick.
Take a chill pill Piotrek we did bomb Iraq and several other countries back to the Stone Age we are doing it right now in Syria
We!!!
I understand most of the bombing in Syria is done by Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian Army on his own people!
Who is this “We” you keep talking about? Are you a US marine?
Iraq, Libya and prosperous all in the same sentence.
You obviously don’t know much about the Middle East then. Countries like Iraq and Libya were only prosperous for those lucky enough to have connections in their respective regimes. For the average person, life was a daily struggle in both countries. Pretty much every Middle Eastern country has issues with wealth distribution, social and ethnic tensions and human rights abuses.
I mean take Iraq as a prime example. Rampant poverty permeated Iraqi society in spite of the significant oil reserves, Saddam had a habit of gassing Kurds in an attempt at ethnic cleansing and lets not forget his expansionist ideals which led him to invade both Iran and Kuwait.
Jason my four year old grandson has a greater grasp of world affairs than you have but then again he has an advantage he does not read The Sun newspaper
Bill I think you need to talk to your 4 year old grandson, he’ll inform you that Jason’s right!
We have indeed such short memories as without the relief valve of emigration from the famine we as a nation may have been entirely wiped out, please folks when you write your cold hearted comments “send em all back etc” do try to remember that
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