Coronavirus: the impossible confinement of migrants from Calais

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It has been two weeks since containment began in France. Several associations have written to the United Nations to force the French state to protect the 1,200 migrants from Calais.

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In Calais, health distress is now added to human distress. Distributed in five living areas, in tents or under hangars, more than 1,200 migrants are exposed to the risks of the Covid-19. Some associations mandated by the State distribute cold meals to them, generating gatherings. Impossible under these conditions to fight effectively against the epidemic, alarms Camille Boittiaux, of the association Refugee Rights Europe:

“ How can you wash your hands regularly when the water point is located several kilometers away? How to respect the ban on assembly when the distribution places are the only option for this food so people have no choice but to go there. How to call 15 without having access to a telephone or a socket to charge it since all the premises of the associations are closed? "

According to the associations, the Covid-19 epidemic increases the vulnerability of these people on the street. They denounce a too timid action of the State. In an open letter addressed to the United Nations on Friday March 27, they demand the urgent implementation of responses to the situation.

“ We must put in place concrete and appropriate measures and immediately stop the evictions from the camps and camps that continue. We have had more than 25 evictions from places of life in Calais since the start of confinement, reports Camille Boittiaux. We also ask the State to guarantee continuity of access to basic rights and needs: food distributions, access to sanitation, drinking water ... in Calais or elsewhere. "

For her part, the mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart plans to open reception and containment centers on the coast. The sheltering of migrants should start this Tuesday morning. Between Grande-Synthe and Calais, nearly 1,600 refugee women, men and children live in unsanitary conditions according to a count of associations on the spot.

► Read also: Portugal regularizes its immigrants to protect them from the coronavirus

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• France
• International Migration
• Coronavirus
• UN