French police evict migrants from camp on Channel coast
Send a link to a friend
[November 30, 2021]
By Juliette Jabkhiro
GRANDE-SYNTHE, France (Reuters) - Police on
Tuesday tore down a makeshift camp near the northern French port of
Dunkirk where scores of migrants who say they are fleeing war, poverty
and persecution in the Middle East were hunkered down with hopes of
reaching Britain.
Armed officers entered the camp, which runs along a disused railway
line, before workers in protective suits pulled down tents and plastic
shelters.
Charity workers say the 27 migrants who drowned in the Channel last
Wednesday had stayed in the same area before they attempted the perilous
sea crossing from France to Britain last Wednesday. Their dinghy
deflated in the open sea.
The number of migrants crossing the Channel has surged to 25,776 in
2021, up from 8,461 in 2020 and 1,835 in 2019, according to tallies
compiled by the BBC using Home Office data.
The spike in numbers has angered Britain, which accuses France of doing
too little to stem the flow. Paris says that once migrants reach the
shores of the channel, it is too late to prevent them crossing.
French police routinely tear up the camps that spring up between Calais
and Dunkirk. Evictions at the Grande-Synthe site had been taking place
on a weekly basis for the past few weeks, one charity worker said.
The migrants are typically transported to holding
centres scattered across the country where they are encouraged to file
for asylum, though many quickly make their way back to the Channel
coast.
[to top of second column]
|
Migrants gather as French police officers dismantle their makeshift
camp at Loon Beach near Dunkirk, France, November 30, 2021.
REUTERS/Juan Medina
Hussein Hamid, 25, an Iranian Kurd, said it was the second time he
had been evicted. On the first occasion, he was bussed to Lyon 760km
to the south.
Hamid tried to leave the camp swiftly by foot, carrying a backpack,
but said the police had blocked any way out.
An Iraqi Kurd told Reuters by text message that he was hiding nearby
while the police conducted their operation.
"I'll come back if the don't find me," he said, requesting anonymity
to avoid police reprisals.
President Emmanuel Macron on Friday told Britain's Prime Minister
Boris Johnson to "get serious" in the effort to curb migrant flows,
as post-Brexit relations between their governments deteriorate.
(Reporting by Judith Jabkhiro; Writing by Richard Lough, Editing by
Alex Richardson and Ed Osmond)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|