Irish truck driver held at knifepoint by Calais migrants
Irish
truck drivers say they fear for their lives after a driver was held at
knifepoint by migrants in the French port city of Calais.
Migrants climb in the back of a lorry on the A16 highway leading to the Eurotunnel in Calais. ©PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
Thousands of migrants live in
makeshift camps in the area and attempt to illegally enter Ireland and
the UK by breaking into lorries crossing the English Channel.
Graham Lowndes of TTS Transport was taking a rest stop in Calais in the early hours of Monday morning when he was held at knife-point by a migrant.
Despite having only covered a four-mile distance in almost six hours due to slow-moving and heavy traffic, it is mandatory by law for drivers to take a rest period every nine hours.
The driver was interrupted by a migrant banging on his door and asking for cigarettes.
While he was distracted, a second man broke into his lorry and held him at knifepoint.
The men left after they had stolen an iPhone from the truck.
Graham is calling for the Irish government to take action to protect drivers.
“This is an international crisis but the lives and livelihoods of drivers from Ireland are at risk which is why the Irish government needs to take action to protect and allow us to go about our work without being put at risk and being unfairly penalised for trying to get to safety.
The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) is calling on the government to intervene by implementing Article 14, which governs the tachograph rule – the internal system which records a drivers’ driving time – so that drivers are not forced to park up for hours like “sitting ducks” having made little progress on their journey due to hours of delays.
IRHA president Verona Murphy said increasing desperation from migrants is putting drivers at serious risk.
“Migrants are increasingly desperate and some are becoming more militant. Drivers’ lives are being threatened unless they allow migrants to stow away in their trailers.
“They are expected to police the situation themselves to ensure they are not unknowingly smuggling migrants. The situation is out of control.
“This is a real and serious crisis that is affecting hundreds of drivers from haulage companies in Ireland who are facing; fines for breaching their tachograph, thousands of euro fines for unknowingly smuggling migrants, huge financial loss for damaged trucks and having to write off goods and the knock-on effect to our insurance premiums but for the IRHA, the safety of our drivers is of paramount importance,” she said.
Irish haulage sector is worth over €4 billion to the Irish exchequer and is responsible for 50,000 jobs, which the IRHA say is in serious jeopardy as a result of the escalating migrant crisis in Calais.
Graham Lowndes of TTS Transport was taking a rest stop in Calais in the early hours of Monday morning when he was held at knife-point by a migrant.
Despite having only covered a four-mile distance in almost six hours due to slow-moving and heavy traffic, it is mandatory by law for drivers to take a rest period every nine hours.
The driver was interrupted by a migrant banging on his door and asking for cigarettes.
While he was distracted, a second man broke into his lorry and held him at knifepoint.
The men left after they had stolen an iPhone from the truck.
Graham is calling for the Irish government to take action to protect drivers.
“This is an international crisis but the lives and livelihoods of drivers from Ireland are at risk which is why the Irish government needs to take action to protect and allow us to go about our work without being put at risk and being unfairly penalised for trying to get to safety.
“I WAS PUT IN AN EXTREMELY VULNERABLE SITUATION IN CALAIS WHICH I AM LUCKY TO HAVE ESCAPED WITH MY LIFE”“I, like all other drivers have the additional stress of self-policing or face huge fines. The government needs to exercise some common sense to implement emergency measures as the situation is only getting worse by the day,” he said.Driver Graham Lowndes
The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) is calling on the government to intervene by implementing Article 14, which governs the tachograph rule – the internal system which records a drivers’ driving time – so that drivers are not forced to park up for hours like “sitting ducks” having made little progress on their journey due to hours of delays.
IRHA president Verona Murphy said increasing desperation from migrants is putting drivers at serious risk.
“Migrants are increasingly desperate and some are becoming more militant. Drivers’ lives are being threatened unless they allow migrants to stow away in their trailers.
“They are expected to police the situation themselves to ensure they are not unknowingly smuggling migrants. The situation is out of control.
“This is a real and serious crisis that is affecting hundreds of drivers from haulage companies in Ireland who are facing; fines for breaching their tachograph, thousands of euro fines for unknowingly smuggling migrants, huge financial loss for damaged trucks and having to write off goods and the knock-on effect to our insurance premiums but for the IRHA, the safety of our drivers is of paramount importance,” she said.
Irish haulage sector is worth over €4 billion to the Irish exchequer and is responsible for 50,000 jobs, which the IRHA say is in serious jeopardy as a result of the escalating migrant crisis in Calais.
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