- Two migrants from Calais have already tested positive for Covid-19.
- The authorities have started a large operation to shelter this population.
- In six centers, exiles will be subject to the same confinement rules as the rest of the French population.
Confining the exiles. From this Friday, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture has set up a "major shelter operation" for migrants present in Calais. In the context of the health crisis linked to the coronavirus epidemic, the State services will try to apply the logic of confinement to these exiles, present on the territory while waiting to be able to reach Great Britain.
At the start of the week, the authorities confirmed the positive Covid-19 screening of two people among the migrant population in Calais. The latter had been placed in solitary confinement and the prefecture had announced an upcoming large-scale operation aimed at sheltering most of the exiles. This is what was launched this Friday.
Six sites selected for a capacity of 400 places
Concretely, six sites were requisitioned in the region, in the municipalities of Liévin, Nédonchel, Croisilles, Merlimont, Fouquières-les-Béthune and Saint-Venant. The migrants will be taken there by bus during several trips over a period of two weeks, "in compliance with health rules," says the prefecture.
Once in these centers, migrants will be subject to the same "movement restriction rules" as the rest of the French population, according to the authorities. However, it is not specified whether they will be able to go out with a derogatory travel certificate.
Initially, departures to these centers will be on a voluntary basis. The number of places available today is 400 while the number of the migrant population in Calais varies between 650, according to the prefecture, and a thousand according to the associations. "Research is continuing to supplement the care capacity," adds the prefecture, which does not exclude "restraint measures" if the volunteers to go to the accommodation are lacking.
Strasbourg
Coronavirus in Strasbourg: Doctors of the World performs health checks on 300 people at the Eckbolsheim squat
Society
Coronavirus: "The impact of a pandemic on universal human rights is major" warns the NGO Amnesty France
- Coronavirus
- Calais
- Containment
- Covid 19
- Society
- Migrants