The confirmed opening of a new camp for asylum seekers in Calais has sparked fear in the haulage industry. Dubbed 'Sangatte 2' by industry insiders, the centre is due to open in the next few weeks. It will be located near a road known as 'gasoline alley', where people traffickers have broken open the backs of lorries and loaded refugees on board while truck drivers fill up with diesel from unmanned pumps. The original Red Cross centre in Sangatte closed in November 2002, after about 67,000 people had passed through it on their way to seek asylum in the UK.
Peter Harding Freight in Haverfordwest suffered problems when the original camp was open. Owner Peter Harding says: "The camp looks like it's going to be 200m from gasoline alley. "Why can't it be kept somewhere separate from where the trucks are? We're at a disadvantage because we've got UK plates, and people know where we are travelling to." Terry Sinnett, director of international operations at TD Williams, Ammanford, adds: "The problem of immigrants jumping onto lorries hasn't gone away, despite the best efforts of the ferry companies.
"I can't see a solution to it except perhaps to a return to proper, pre-EU immigration controls. You can be sympathetic to these people on a humanitarian level, but this camp could be a magnet, or a sort of bus stop for people. It doesn't seem EU governments want to do anything about it." The Road Haulage Association adds: "This camp is not good news, the haulage industry is an easy target. Inevitably we are going to see an increase in the number of illegals trying to enter the UK on trucks."