RHA Calais Incident Reporting Line Now Breaks Down the Language Barrier

The Road Haulage Association continues to engage with UK-bound hauliers experiencing abuse, intimidation and attacks from migrants at Calais.

As part of that engagement, the Association has extended the scope of its 24/7 Incident Reporting Line. It now uses technology that can instantly recognise a wide range of languages. Details of every call received can be now be logged accurately.

“It’s not only British hauliers that are suffering at the hands of those desperate to reach the UK,” said RHA chief executive Richard Burnett.

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“Migrants are not selective. If they consider a truck has the potential to take them over the Channel, they will use whatever means possible to get on board – regardless of the nationality of the driver. They are without thought or care for the driver or the consequences of their actions.”

The 24/7 multi-lingual Incident Reporting Line will enable more incidents of intimidation to be logged. “The more evidence we gain, the stronger our case for urgent government intervention becomes,” Richard Burnett continued.

“We are extremely concerned about the amount and scale of the reports we are receiving. They include instances of hauliers being threatened with baseball bats, hammers and knives, while others have been subject to rocks and steel poles thrown from motorway bridges. The situation is out of control and must be resolved as a matter of extreme urgency.

“The 24/7 multi-lingual Incident Reporting Line will provide the evidence and understanding that is needed to ensure we get the protection that the haulage industry is entitled to expect.”

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