Migrants: Eurotunnel request € 9.7 million to the state – Le Figaro

The group wants the British and French States compensates its expenses and operating loss related to the influx of migrants trying to rally Great Britain via the Channel tunnel.

The Eurotunnel Group seeks compensation of 9.7 million euros to the French and British governments to offset its expenses and operating loss related to the influx of migrants try to rally Great Britain via the Channel Tunnel. “In the first half, € 13 million has already been committed (for security), equivalent to the total spent in 2014,” the group said. He emphasized that the texts provide that “some (of these expenses) will be supported by States” conceded that the operation of the tunnel, adding that “the British government has already committed to take 4 7 million euro charge on 2015. “

” We continue to perform a sealing shape of the Channel Tunnel relative to the passage of migrants in Britain, since the number of migrants intercepted by British forces counted on the fingers of the hand. The key is intercepted in France. It has a cost, “said the CEO of Eurotunnel, Jacques Gounon, during the presentation of interim results of the Group. Of the 9.7 million claimed about two thirds correspond to extra expenses, such as new barriers preventing migrants from entering the tunnel or trucks, while the remaining third is an operating loss.

M. Gounon said that “when identifying (…) presence of migrants on a shuttle, the shuttle is stopped, it is also the railway regulations which requires us, and he proceeded to dig the Shuttle. I remember a shuttle is 800 meters long, four TGV one behind the other. “

“So you see that at that time, especially when there is insufficient number of police officers, the night, the time it takes. And so the shuttle is locked before leaving, and it obviously represents losses Operating we ask compensation to the State, because if there was more control forces, it would go a lot faster, “he continued.

The group estimates that the number of migrants in Calais is largely underestimated, and therefore, that the number of law enforcement are inadequate. For Jacques Gounon, “it is obvious that there is not enough of the order forces. I think the interior minister said recently that there were 2,000 migrants in the jungle + + in Calais, all local people know we’re rather to 5,000. ” Eurotunnel had already made such a request in the early 2000s, “for numbers of smaller migrants today,” said Mr Gounon. The group had been successful, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague had estimated its loss to 24 million euros.