変異種でトラック５０００台が足止め　運転手と警官で小競り合いも　英ドーバー

【マンストン空港ＡＦＰ＝時事】英国南東部の旧マンストン空港には、英国での新型コロナウイルス変異種の感染拡大を受け、フランスが英国からの入国を禁止したため足止めされたトラックが数千台駐車している。空港周辺では23日、設備が不十分で新型コロナの検査が行われないことにいら立ったトラック運転手らと警察との間で小競り合いが発生した。（写真は英イングランド南東部ケントにあるドーバー港で、警察官に抗議する運転手ら）
　フランスは２０日、英国からの入国を全面的に禁止。これにより、５０００台以上のトラックが、英仏海峡の貨物輸送の要であるドーバー港付近で待機を余儀なくされた。
　足止めされたトラック運転手の一人、ポーランドのパトリツィア・シェブチックさんは「シャワーも飲み水もなく、２日間ここにいる」と話し、運転手らには食べるものもないと訴えた。
　南東部ケントにある旧マンストン空港の外では、ロータリーをふさぎ抗議活動を行っていた運転手数十人と警察の間で小競り合いが起こった。運転手らはシュプレヒコールを上げ、腕を振り上げ、警官ともみ合いになった。黄色いレインコートを着たシェブチックさんも抗議活動に参加していた。
　現場にいたＡＦＰ記者によると、警察は男性１人を警察車両に押し込むと、他の運転手らに自分の車に戻り、新型ウイルスの検査を待つよう説得した。
　ケント警察は、マンストンとドーバーで発生した「騒ぎ」に対応したとし、ドーバーで高速道路の往来を妨害したとして男１人を逮捕し、現在も拘束していると述べた。
　旧マンストン空港を管理する運輸省は、トラック運転手らが食料を入手し、必要な設備を使えるよう手配していると述べている。
　運転免許庁によると、２３日時点で旧マンストン空港には３８００台、その他の施設には１２４２台が駐車していた。
　フランスは２２日夜、検査で陰性だった人の入国を認めると発表。これを受け英当局は、足止めされている運転手らに４０分以内に結果が出る新型ウイルス検査を実施すると明らかにした。また、英国防省は検査支援のため、兵士１７０人を派遣する計画だ。
　混乱の解消には数日かかる見込みで、運転手らは２５日のクリスマスも家には帰れないと嘆く。
　旧マンストン空港に駐車しているポーランド人男性運転手は、「とても幼い」２人の子どもと離れてクリスマスを過ごさなければならないと、声を詰まらせながら訴えた。「家に帰りたい」 【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/12/25-12:36）

Angry lorry drivers confronted police Wednesday as thousands waited to take cargo across the Channel at an abandoned airfield in Kent, complaining of poor facilities and lack of virus tests.
We are here two days and without shower, without water to drink, said one of the stranded drivers, Patricia Szeweczyk from Poland.
There is a massive backlog of trucks at the site after France on Sunday banned all travel from Britain for 48 hours over the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus.
Wearing a yellow raincoat, Szeweczyk argued with a policeman as several dozen protesters blocked a roundabout outside Manston Airport in Kent, southeast England.
Drivers raised their arms and pushed against police, shouting, during the scuffles.
They complained of inadequate facilities and lack of virus tests.
Drivers have nothing to eat and cooking facilities are dangerous at the lorry park, complained Szeweczyk.
Police bundled one man into a van before convincing the protesters to return to their vehicles and await virus testing to allow them to proceed on their journeys, an AFP journalist saw.
Kent police said they responded to disturbances at Manston and Dover.
One man has been arrested for obstructing a highway in Dover and remains in custody, police said.
The Department of Transport, which runs the facility, said it provides access to food and welfare facilities.
Thousands of lorries were diverted to the disused airport after France closed its borders for 48 hours to contain the spread of a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus.
On Wednesday there were 3,800 vehicles at Manston and 1,242 in other holding areas, according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
The dramatic sight of the thousands of parked lorries dominated newspaper front pages on Wednesday.
- 'Just want to go' -
France late Tuesday agreed to let people cross who have tested negative for coronavirus and the UK authorities have promised to provide the vast backlog of drivers with rapid tests that give a result within half an hour.
British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that testing has begun as we look to get traffic moving again between the UK and France.
At the same time he warned that severe delays continue. Please AVOID Kent while the backlog is cleared.
The defence ministry said it was sending 170 soldiers to help with virus testing.
Drivers said they expected to be there for days, including over Christmas Day on Friday.
They say the test of Covid is coming for us. Nothing is there, nothing is coming, said Polish driver, Ezdrasz Szwaja.
We don't have information, nothing...
We have been here two days already and I worked out it will take another two days to sort all this out. There are a lot of trucks, said Spanish driver Pablo Mora, waiting with his lorry in the nearby town of Folkestone.
Sitting in his lorry's cabin, German driver Sergej Merkel said he expected to be tested within a day or so but would then wait for a slot to travel across.
So Christmas time, we will spend here in our truck, Merkel forecast.
At Manston Airport, Polish driver Szwaja choked with emotion as he talked about being away from his two very small children for Christmas.
I just want to go there, he said.
German driver Merkel said it was his first time here in England, and possibly it's last time, you know.
He was parked along a row of lorries in Folkestone, about 7 miles (11 kilometres) southwest of Dover.
We have enough freight in Europe, in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, he said.
With such terrible days as these, I think lots of drivers will not be interested in coming back to England.
video-am/csp/wai