France sends police reinforcements to Calais after migrant clashes

CALAIS, France – France’s interior minister said Thursday, October 23, he had dispatched 100 extra police to the port of Calais where an influx of illegal migrants trying to get to Britain is causing more and more havoc.

The northern town has for months been struggling to cope with a steady tide of migrants desperate to cross the Channel to Britain, and authorities say up to 2,300 asylum-seekers are now living rough in Calais and surrounding areas – up from 1,500 at the end of the summer.

This week, violent fights between migrants in an industrial district where many have taken refuge saw police fire tear gas and seal off the area to try and restore calm.

The migrants – many of whom are from Eritrea and Sudan but also from Syria and other conflict zones – aim to get to Britain where many already have family.

As such, they have taken to mobbing an area in the port where trucks wait to be checked before they board ferries, scrambling onto vehicles in the hope that no one will notice.

450 police mobilized

In an interview with local daily La Voix du Nord, France’s Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he had decided to send reinforcements to Calais by dispatching “100 additional police officers, of whom 70 will secure the port permanently 24 hours a day, and 30 others will secure the town centre.”

This brings the total number of police mobilized to keep order in the port to 450, he added in the interview published Thursday.

“The aim is for trucks to be able to move more freely, to avoid them being mobbed, and to strengthen controls while also ensuring the security of migrants who are themselves in danger,” Cazeneuve said.

On Monday night, October 20, a 16-year-old Ethiopian girl was killed after being hit by a car while crossing a motorway in the area, police said, highlighting the dangers involved.

The problem in Calais is not new – illegal camps of migrants have sprung up in the area since French authorities closed down the infamous Sangatte immigrant detention center in 2002.

But the crisis has spiraled, prompting the city’s mayor Natacha Bouchart to threaten last month to shut down the port entirely in protest at London’s perceived lack of action or help over the problem.

Cazeneuve has said that Britain had since agreed to contribute up to 15 million euros (£12 million, $19 million) to help deal with the problem.

French authorities have also upped security measures in the city, and Denis Robin, prefect of the Pas-de-Calais district where the city is located, said Thursday barriers would be set up over four kilometers (2.5 miles) to keep migrants out of the port area.

Riot police are also patrolling the city centre on foot and in vehicles to maintain order, he added, pointing to residents’ “increasing concern” amid a rise in petty theft.

Both Cazeneuve and Robin also said a day centre would be opened to allow migrants access to health care, toilets and bathrooms. – Rappler.com