ADVERTISEMENTA year after the dismantling of the Calais jungle and the dispersal of 10,000 migrants across France, between 500 and 1,000 have returned.
For 20 years now that this part of France has been overwhelmed with refugees who dream of England, and come to wait for the moment and the means to cross the Channel.
For local firms, it’s business as usual with refugees wondering around industrial zones while no longer having anywhere to stay.
Jean-Pierre Devigne, Director of RDV Transport, said: “I would say that for us, it’s worse, with migrants stationed at the Marcel Doret zone around here day and night. And they are difficult to bring under control. They move about in groups of four or five. And we suffer from repeated break-ins throughout the week.”
Frederic, a transport driver, said: There was an improvement when it (the Jungle camp) was demolished, when they (migrants) left, we could live again somehow. But now, for some time, we see it coming back, and we see them more and more.
The firm says it has had to shell out 175 000 euros over the last year. In six years, they have had to pay 35,000 euros in fines for migrants discovered in their trucks. Driver safety has become an issue They say they don’t feel safe, according to their union.
But where do the migrants go? No one wants them while the state procrastinates, still not knowing how to solve the problem after 20 years.