For many migrants unable to afford smugglers, jumping onto trucks heading to the UK is their only option. However, heightened security around the Channel Tunnel and Calais port has made crossing undetected nearly impossible. Yet, driven by desperation, many continue to take the risk, feeling they have nothing to lose.
By Charlotte Boitiaux, special correspondent in Calais
Mohamed doesn't have the slightest interest in small boats. "Why would I have an opinion on ‘small boats’? I won't take one," he said while sitting under a tarpaulin and contemplating a small, crackling fire. “I have nothing: no money and no one to ask for it from. I'm not going to try to get into a boat, there's no point in continuing to talk about it," he said, drawing his bare feet closer to the heat of the flames.
While most migrants now cross the English Channel in small boats, Mohamed is among the few still attempting to reach the UK by truck. For those like him, unable to afford smugglers' fees for boat crossings, hiding in heavy goods vehicles is the only option.
In a cramped, unsanitary camp where Mohamed has lived for two months, all the residents are from Sudan, sharing the same hope of reaching England this way. However, this method has largely been abandoned due to heightened security at the Channel Tunnel and Calais port. With the help of British funding, French authorities militarized the area, equipping it with thermal cameras, barbed wire, motion sensors, surveillance cameras, heat and CO2 detectors.
Successful passages are rare: over 2,646 people were discovered in trucks heading to England since the beginning of 2024, according to France Bleu. It is therefore nearly impossible to enter the port area without being noticed.
The statistics from the Home Office (the British equivalent of the French Interior Ministry) also highlight the difficulty of the process. "Only" 181 people arrived in trucks on the English side of the Channel in the first half of 2024, compared to the 13,500 people who arrived in "small boats" during the same period. The arrivals in heavy goods vehicles are therefore minimal, even if "some manage to enter the United Kingdom unnoticed", said Célestin Michaud, coordinator of Utopia 56 of Grande-Synthe in northern France.
'Day and night'
Mohamed doesn’t know anyone who has successfully crossed by truck, but he remains undeterred. "It’s the only option I have," he said, explaining, "I just watch for 'chemicals' signs on vehicle doors, that’s all. Otherwise, I try to get into a heavy goods vehicle any way I can, day or night."
Migrants often wait at key spots along the A16 highway or in parking areas, walking the roads in the region and seizing any opportunity to try their luck.
At the Calais camp, 17-year-old Amjad emerged from his tent, barefoot and with his face wrapped in a scarf. He says he’s attempted to cross by truck over 20 times, but violent encounters with some drivers are his biggest challenge. "One driver tried to run me over. Another time, I was pulled out of a vehicle and thrown to the ground," he recounted.
Most nights, Amjad returns to the camp around 3 a.m., exhausted by failed attempts. "I try every day. Of course, we know it’s risky, but what other option do I have? The small boats? Do you have the money for me?"
'They hide on the axles'
A few kilometers away, Farouk waits with three friends near a roundabout in the Transmarck zone. The area is a hub for hundreds of trucks on their way to the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium. These migrants are also Sudanese, with no possessions except for the clothes they are wearing. They have no money and no one to lend it to them. "I have tried countless times [to get into a truck]", said Farouk, scrutinizing the vehicles in front of him. "It is easier to try when a truck stops at a red light, but sometimes we also try while they slowly drive by."
The risks for migrants hiding in trucks are as severe as for those crossing the Channel in small boats. Locked in an airtight truck, they risk asphyxiation. Tragedies are all too common: in January 2024, a migrant was crushed to death by metal bars transported in the truck he had hidden in. In January 2023, another lost his life after falling from a truck on the A16. In May 2023, a Sudanese man was struck and killed by the very vehicle he was trying to board.
In one of Transmarck's car parks, a security guard confirmed that migrants were recklessly trying to board vehicles. "Sometimes they hide there, next to the wheels, on the axles," he said, pointing under a heavy vehicle. "They can't hold on for more than a few minutes. It's impossible to stay there, you end up slipping and getting crushed."
40 km away from the final destination
Myriam, the mother of Mélody, aged 6, has also considered the option of crossing in a truck. She arrived in France alone with her daughter, without a husband or other male presence. It was "tempting”, because it was "free", but Myriam ultimately abandoned the idea. "Whether it’s in a boat or on a truck, I’m risking my daughter's life," admitted the Eritrean mother. "At least in the water, the French authorities would be able to help us in case of a problem. This is not the case in the back of a truck. If something happened to us, who would hear us?"
Jamal does not even think about taking a small boat anymore. Concealing himself in a truck is not just a question of money, but one of avoiding a previous trauma. "I got into a boat in the Aegean Sea to reach Greece from Turkey", he said. "The waves were high, the sea was rough, I was terrified. It was a horrible crossing... I was very lucky to still be alive."
Jamal, who arrived in France alone, has ruled out crossing by boat. He is determined to finish his journey in a truck. Despite the risks, he remains optimistic: "I managed to hide in a truck twice, but agents opened the door and found me both times."
After leaving Parwan, a mountainous province in northern Afghanistan, Jamal has traveled across much of the world. He has no plans to stop in Calais. "The United Kingdom is right there, 40 kilometers away from me," he said.
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