Police break up Calais migrant camp

Published September 30, 2020
CALAIS (France): Police evacuate migrants after dismantling their camp near a hospital on Tuesday.—AFP
CALAIS (France): Police evacuate migrants after dismantling their camp near a hospital on Tuesday.—AFP

CALAIS: French police on Tuesday dismantled a camp of about 800 migrants in the port city of Calais, the biggest such operation since the sprawling “Jungle” shantytown was broken up four years ago.

Calais continues to attract migrants from the Middle East and Africa who set up makeshift camps along France’s northern coast from where they hope to make the passage across the English Channel to Britain.

Since January 1, French authorities have intercepted at least 1,317 migrants as they tried to reach the UK, some by swimming across the busy waterway. Tuesday’s operation started before dawn and had evacuated more than 600 people in 30 buses by the afternoon, according to local authorities, who added that 34 people were detained.

“We want to avoid a concentration and a new gathering point in Calais,” Louis Le Franc, the government’s top official for the northern Pas-de-Calais department, said at the scene.

According to Le Franc, it was the biggest dismantling of a Calais camp since the Jungle was cleared of some 9,000 migrants between 2015 and 2016.

The Pas-de-Calais prefecture said there were about 500 tents at the site, with conditions posing “serious problems of security, health and tranquility”, particularly for staff and patients of a nearby health centre.

The evacuated migrants will be brought to reception centres in Pas-de-Calais, other departments in northern France, and other regions of the country.

By far the majority of the migrants are men, mainly from Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Iraq and Eritrea. “In my view, this is above all an operation to give people a safe haven.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2020

Opinion

Editorial

Centre’s shadow
23 Apr, 2025

Centre’s shadow

THE KP Assembly remains deeply divided over proposed contentious mining legislation. Even many of the ruling PTI...
Seeker of peace
23 Apr, 2025

Seeker of peace

POPE Francis, who prayed for Palestine, died on Easter Monday. The first Argentine pontiff’s diverse and...
Himalayan crisis
23 Apr, 2025

Himalayan crisis

THE Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, known as Asia’s water tower, is in trouble. The towering ranges have registered a...
Dar in Kabul
Updated 22 Apr, 2025

Dar in Kabul

Kabul must ensure that the TTP and other anti-Pakistan groups are put out of business.
Ready to talk
22 Apr, 2025

Ready to talk

ADVISER to the Prime Minister Rana Sanaullah’s phone calls to Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon regarding...
Grassroots governance
22 Apr, 2025

Grassroots governance

WHEN something as basic as a functioning union council is absent in over a quarter of Balochistan’s areas more ...