Second truck driver seriously wounded in Calais after migrant mob attack

The migrants struck the driver on the head with a brick, and then stole the victim’s vehicle. The unnamed man is recovering in hospital with a serious head injury, Breitbart reported.

In June, a Polish driver was killed near Calais after migrants dragged tree trunks onto the road in a bid to slow traffic and break into vehicles bound for Britain. Nine Eritreans were discovered hiding in a vehicle.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) described the attack as “extremely disturbing”, noting that it “comes as a stark warning to UK-bound hauliers that migrants will stop at nothing to reach our shores.

“Since this situation began we have stressed that migrants are putting the lives of HGV drivers at risk. This latest method of hijacking is is a new one and clearly shows that the desperation of migrants to get to the UK has reached new heights,” RHA chief executive Richard Burnett, said in response.

The driver had stopped on the A16 highway outside Calais, near Marck. He noticed migrants trying to climb into his vehicle. On inspection, he was attacked by the mob who then stole the vehicle.

The mob left the driver on the road for dead, where he was lying, bleeding from his injuries.

According to the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NavCIS), the hijackers – who were stopped by police some distance from the attack – were believed to number between 20 and 30 men.

NavCIS Industry liaison and intelligence officer Andrew Round said the military should be deployed if the current levels of violence against drivers continue. “It is just not fair on the drivers; something has to be done between the UK and French governments above and beyond what they are already doing.”

But as security deteriorates in the area, human rights activists blame the police, and not the mobs. According to Human Rights Watch, French authorities “turn a blind eye to the widespread reports of the abuse”.

On Wednesday HRW highlighted “police violence against migrants” in the northern town, where hundreds have returned despite the demolition of a sprawling squatter camp known as “The Jungle”.

The 40-page report, “‘Like Living in Hell’: Police Abuses Against Child and Adult Migrants in Calais,” finds that police forces in Calais, particularly the French riot police [Compagnies républicaines de sécurité] or CRS, “sometimes use pepper spray” based on interviews conducted with some 60 migrants.

The deputy prefect for Calais vehemently denied charges of police abuse, describing such allegations as slander.

New president Emmanuel Macron said last month migrants would be treated humanely. His government instructed local officials “to show more humanity toward migrants” the government spokesman told Reuters in June. “Prefects have given instructions for more flexibility to be shown, in particular for more humanity to be shown,” government spokesman Christophe Castaner said.

Macron declared at an European Union summit in Trieste, Italy, earlier in July: “[T]he women and the men who first were coming from Syria, today are coming from Eritrea, or from many other countries, and who are fighting for freedom, must be welcomed in Europe, and especially in France.”

Some 400 migrants from the Middle East and Africa have returned to the northern French port city in a bid to reach the UK, Reuters reported. Police have had to be deployed permanently in the area to protect motorists and transport vehicles alike.

A French court ruling, issued on June 26, directed authorities to provide migrants with access to drinking water, toilets, and showering facilities within 10 days, but authorities appealed the ruling. The appeal is scheduled to be heard on July 28.