The migrant invasion: Dramatic pictures show Calais crisis descend into anarchy
THESE dramatic pictures prove how the migrant crisis in Calais has now descended into open anarchy.
Pictures have shown how the Calais migrant crisis descended into anarchy
A baying mob yesterday brought a busy motorway to a standstill, openly attacking trucks laden with goods bound for Britain.
The aggressive pack of 2,000 refugees desperate to reach the UK overran police as they flooded roads approaching the port.
In what are becoming alarmingly frequent scenes terrified lorry drivers and petrified tourists feared for their lives as hooded men ran amok.
The Daily Express was able to capture the chilling images after being caught in the gridlock just a mile from the docks.
At one stage a gang of 500 men, some in balaclavas, surrounded an articulated lorry and began violently shaking it.
Migrants try to hail down the lorries heading for Britain
A baying mob brought a busy motorway to a standstill
Police are struggling to cope with the influx of migrants into Calais
I am concerned for British truck drivers who constantly feel their lives are in danger
The size and strength of the brazen posse meant police armed with batons and CS gas were helpless to stem the tide.
As sirens and whistles blared the armed and angry refugees forced traffic to stop.
Migrants smashed up road signs and dragged debris into the road to deliberately slow down approaching lorries while other tried to break into the back.
The astonishing outbreak of disorder enabled some to clamber on to the roofs of 44-tonne trucks as their desperation to make it to the UK reached new heights.
Hooded men ran amok as migrants tried to board lorries in Calais
The pack of 2,000 refugees desperate to reach the UK overran police
Riot police, some with their batons raised, were forced to retreat as numbers quickly swelled.
The fearless mob even taunted uniformed officers from bridges and cheered loudly as others tried to smash their way in to vehicles.
Drivers were hastily told to ignore speed limits and lorries raced to the ferry terminal with their back doors swinging wide open.
A handful of migrants were caught hiding among cargo and were forcibly dragged from the back and pinned to the ground in a rare show of strength by the French CRS.
The chaos is now so bad British lorry drivers are boycotting the port while others have called for the Army to be drafted in to restore order.
The number of migrants in Calais is becoming a real problem for France
Migrants in Calais yesterday surround traffic heading for Britain
There are now thought to be at least 4,000 migrants living in the crime-ridden Calais ghetto dubbed the “Jungle” who outnumber police 10 to one.
But as the refugee crisis across Europe spirals out of control experts say that could double in size within weeks.
The clamour to reach Britain is so acute it is disrupting the flow of supplies into the UK.
Truckers say their lives are at risk as migrants run amok riot with machetes, knives and baseball bats while the freight industry says the situation is “simply unsustainable”.
It is feared the migrants’ lawless home on a patch of wasteland close to the ferry terminal will soon swell to epidemic proportions, triggering a humanitarian and public order disaster.
Migrants in Calais today trying to board lorries
Police in Calais try to control the growing threat to lorry drivers
Philippe Mignonet, the beleaguered deputy mayor of Calais, said: “The number will grow, no doubt.
“The British government says it is our responsibility when they perfectly know migrants’ destination is not Calais but England.
“We are fed up with that attitude. I more and more have the feeling they do not have the courage to come over to face the reality and talk to us.”
The overstretched Border Force, the last line of defence, is largely helpless to prevent desperate migrants trying to smuggle themselves into the UK with one exasperated official saying “the clandestines are running riot”.
The rise in organised gangs operating elaborate smuggling rackets is leading to more than 100 attempts to cross the Channel every day - double the rate of last year.
Ukip MEP Steven Woolfe, who last week became the first British politician to visit the Jungle camp, said: “I am concerned for British truck drivers who constantly feel their lives are in danger. We could see something far worse in the future unless we get a grip on this crisis now.”
The Home Office said: “The maintenance of law and order on French soil is the responsibility of the French Government.”
Migrants attempting to board lorries in Calais
Police armed with batons and CS gas were helpless to stem the tide