More and more refugees seek asylum in UK as they try to make their way across the English Channel to England. Most of these migrants have travelled a long way, coming from places such as Africa or Middle-East countries such as Afghanistan, who’s people are fleeing the war between the Afghan army and the Talibans, and making their way through Europe, with one destination in mind, the UK.
Unfortunately, yesterday, the most radical move by the police, yet, was made. The CRS, Compagnie Républicaines de Sécurité, is a french security institution that “fights against urban violence”. 200 of those officers moved in the migrant camp and raided it. A move certainly not expected by the expatriates. The migrants were sent in different camps around France as far as Paris and in Normandy.
As it is read in Calais Migrant Society, a blog covering the events, ” ‘Activists’, associations and journalists were quickly separated to stop people intervening or bearing witness, so the eviction could happen out of sight.” The police blocked the area but some people living in the area still saw signs of violence such as the use of tear gas and pepper spray.
Of the more than 600 evicted squatters, 121 of them were minors, as it reported in Nord Littoral, Calais’s local newspaper.
Things have changed a lot in a month for these refugees. On the 28th of May, the original camps were destroyed and evacuated by the police and then on the 12th of June, the migrants started a hunger strike because they wanted to talk with officials in the Calais region so that they could be allowed to go to the UK. They also wanted better living conditions and food everyday.
Following the destruction of their camps, they were helped by SALAM, a group helping migrants that are coming to the Nord/Pas-de-Calais region. The group fed the migrants who hadn’t fled Calais since the destruction of the camp a month ago.
Despite the events in the past month and in the past few days, the story was not covered a lot in North America, it was pretty much ignored. This ignorance from the UK, France and most of the rest of World led some of the migrants to think about setting themselves on fire to seek attention.
The Mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart was enraged by the situation saying that “these camps of misfortune are a disgrace to the city, France and all of Europe which refuses to welcome with dignity these people who fled their countries because of the war”
Needless to say that this story needs to be followed and talked about because more and more countries are in civil wars and refugees are fleeing to have a better life, doing whatever they can to survive.
SHITS UNKNOWN 