Improved situation at Dover port

By Sunday evening, the situation is gradually improving At the port Dover (South England), after a very disruptive weekend, many coach passengers had to wait long hours to cross border controls and board a ferry to France.

From Friday, hundreds of people travel by coach, especially young people at the beginning of the school trip Easter holidaysSometimes we had to wait for more than 12 hours to board the ferry and long queues formed near the port.

“It’s a real mess.”

Traffic is “now confined within the port, ready to proceed with immigration checks,” the port said on Twitter later in the evening. “The Port of Dover is continuing to work with ferry operators and border agencies to allow passengers on the remaining coaches to travel quickly,” he reiterated his apology. According to passenger testimonies on social networks, many were still waiting to board France for more than 10 hours on Sunday.

The port of Dover has experienced higher-than-expected arrivals since Friday, during a period when many Britons are off on holiday en masse, while weather conditions have caused problems boarding ferries.

Disruptions continued throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, angering many passengers or parents of children stranded at the port. “My son has been sitting on the bus since 6.30pm yesterday (Saturday) and they still haven’t boarded! “, Zed protested on Twitter Sunday morning. Rosie Pearson, traveling with her husband and two sons, had to wait until 4 p.m. before boarding. “It’s a real mess,” she told the PA news agency. “Nobody told us anything in 16 hours. Not saying,” he added.

Continuous reviews

The beginning of the controversy was born in the role of Brexit In these significant delays. The port and many British ferry companies have highlighted the length of checks by French border police, who now have to check all passengers’ passports. But when questioned on Sky News on Sunday morning, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said it was “not fair to say it was a negative consequence of Brexit”.

This is not the first time such traffic jams have occurred at the Port of Dover. Traffic was particularly problematic at the end of July when the British went on holiday. The British government accused France and its border of not having enough manpower, which Paris denied. On the French side, we pointed out the role of Brexit and the long restrictions it would bring.

20 minutes with AFP