Channel Tunnel: '2,000 migrants' tried to enter

[Bosonic]

Source: BBC

Some 2,000 migrants tried to enter the Channel Tunnel terminal in Calais on Monday night in an attempt to reach the UK, operator Eurotunnel has said.

Eurotunnel is facing a daily struggle with migrants who attempt to smuggle themselves into Britain, sometimes with fatal consequences.

"It was the biggest incursion effort in the past month-and-a-half," said a spokesman for Eurotunnel.

Eurotunnel had earlier warned its timetable had been disrupted.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33689473

[rocktivity]

1. The Chunnel is 30 miles long -- what do you do once you're inside?

Walk from Calais without being noticed, or thumb a ride?

Wikipedia: Illegal immigrants and would-be asylum seekers have used the tunnel to attempt to enter Britain...(T)he French Red Cross opened a refugee centre at Sangatte in 1999, using a warehouse once used for tunnel construction...(B)y 2002 it housed up to 1500 people at a time...The United Kingdom blamed France for allowing Sangatte to open, and France blamed the UK for its lax asylum rules and the EU for not having a uniform immigration policy...

Most illegal immigrants and would-be asylum seekers who got into Britain found some way to ride a freight train, but others used Eurostar. They would usually get on board trucks, which would then get onto the freight trains. In a few instances, groups of men claiming to be refugees were able to sneak into a tanker truck carrying liquid chocolate and managed to survive...

(R)efugees would even jump from bridges onto moving trains...(O)thers tampered with railway equipment, causing delays and requiring repairs...In 2001 and 2002, several riots broke out at Sangatte and groups of refugees (up to 550 in a December 2001 incident) stormed the fences and attempted to enter en masse. Immigrants have also arrived as legitimate Eurostar passengers without proper entry papers...

A dozen refugees/illegal immigrants have died in crossing attempts...On July 6, 2015 a migrant died while attempting to climb onto a freight train while trying to reach Britain from the French side of the Channel. The previous month, an Eritrean man was killed under similar circumstances.

rocktivity

[Igel]

2. Wait for a train.

Then jump on the roof or the back. So, yes, "thumb a ride."

Even if most die, every one believes he'd be among the lucky.

[Nihil]

9. Psst ...

> The Chunnel is 30 miles long -- what do you do once you're inside?
> Walk to Calais without being noticed, or thumb a ride?

You're already in Calais!

[rocktivity]

10. Fixed

Merci!




rocktivity

[rocktivity]

11. Now I can actually visualize the scope of the problem

Thanks to this article:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/11769718/Calais-crisis-live.html




rocktivity

[roamer65]

3. Yet another example of how the EU's Schengen zone is a disaster.

Once illegal immigrants get into the EU, they head straight for France to try to get into the UK. If they get into a Schengen country, they can head for the Chunnel pretty much unimpeded. If there still were border controls, it would be much harder to make it there from countries like Italy and Spain.

[pampango]

7. The ability to drive from Warsaw to Madrid or Rome without border controls is not a 'disaster'.

Neither is being able to drive from New York to Los Angeles without border controls. I suppose border controls between our states might help combat illegal immigration but not many Americans are willing to make that trade-off. And we have more illegal immigrants than Europe has.

Europe's far-right is very much anti-immigrant (legal and illegal) and it is pushing hard for border controls which means withdrawing from Schengen which consists of 26 countries (notably not the UK or Ireland) and over 400 million people. Reimposing border controls (along with tariffs on intra-Europe trade and destroying the EU, all in the name of enhanced national sovereignty - how has that worked in European history?) are the common goals of far-right parties throughout Europe. Promoting hysteria about immigration (in common with our own tea party far-right) is a means to achieve that goal.

[fasttense]

4. Don't worry the Eurotunnel corportion has filed suits against France and England

For the damage and lost profits caused by those desperate immigrants. So, don't worry only poor people will suffer, not corporations or the rich.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Channel Tunnel migrant crisis: Man dies as 1,500 try to enter

A man has been killed as at least 1,500 migrants tried to enter the Channel Tunnel in Calais on Tuesday night, French police have said.
...
The man is the ninth person to die trying to access the tunnel since June.

He was Sudanese, aged between 25 and 30, according to the France Info website.

He is reported to have been crushed by a truck.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33699141

[Hekate]

6. That's horrifying

Those poor souls.

[T_i_B]

8. This is causing a major logistical problem for the UK

As it's caused major delays for both the chunnel and the Dover-Calais crossing, leading to operation stack, which clogs up roads in Kent, which is a big problem for Kent residents. problems at Calais also mean that more traffic heads to Dunkerque, which causes congestion and delays there.

Given how vital this route is for trade, it's a major headache for Britain.