Calais locals threaten human chain to block port access
Locals in Calais are threatening to cause chaos for those crossing the Channel by creating a human chain to block the motorway leading to the port.
Shopkeepers, farmers, local business people and even police are expected to join the action, starting at 7am on Monday morning unless the migrant camp is dismantled.
Alliance, the French police union, said officers were no longer able to cope with the growing disorder in the camp, which is now home to more than 10,000 asylum-seekers.
Problems they have to deal with include gangs of armed people-smugglers forcing lorries to stop before they reach Calais so migrants can break in and hitch a ride to Britain, where they seek asylum.
They claim the motorway leading to the port is regularly blocked with trees and debris by masked smugglers, some of them armed with sticks or knives.
The threat of a human blockade comes as Britain’s Home Secretary Amber Rudd opens talks with her French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve about the growing crisis.
About 200 migrants are smuggled into the UK every week via Calais, jumping into lorries and even caravans and other vehicles.
Locals are now threatening to create an indefinite blockade from the Epopee stadium to the A16 until they are given a date for the camp to be dismantled.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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