France: in Calais, a military vehicle continues the skids in front of a migrant camp
French soldiers, one on board and the other next to a vehicle dedicated to the Vigipirate plan.
(illustrative image) © AP - Ian Langsdon
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
The French army announced, Sunday, December 19, the "
immediate
"
triggering
of an investigation after a military vehicle was filmed in the process of increasing the skids in front of a migrant camp in northern France.
He eventually ran aground in a rut.
Advertising
Read more
“
Unacceptable scene. A command investigation is triggered immediately,
"reacted on Twitter the Army, Sunday, December 19, in response to photos and videos of the facts published on the same network by photojournalist Louis Witter. It all started with a first video relayed by the latter at midday. "
I did not film the scene, the images were sent to me by sources who followed everything
," he said on Twitter.
"
In Calais, a military vehicle (of the plan) Vigipirate came this morning to drift and spurts on
one of the exile camps in the city
, before getting stuck,
" writes Louis Witter, publishing a first video. On it, we see a brown 4X4, whose windshield is adorned with a “
Vigipirate mission traffic
” banner
, with a military license plate, making arabesques in reverse in a muddy field. A field located "
on a vacant lot at the exit of Calais
", specifies the journalist.
In Calais, a military vehicle from Vigipirate came this morning to drift and spurts on one of the city's exile camps, before getting stuck 1 / pic.twitter.com/QIif8JDcMj
- Louis Witter (@LouisWitter) December 19, 2021
"All that to end up bogged down"
Other videos show the SUV speeding through a puddle, causing showers of water in its path.
In the background, appears a tent camp, in which migrants live.
Some whistle the show.
“
All that to finish his race mired in the mud of the camp.
The soldiers got out of the vehicle with their weapons, waiting for someone to help them.
Before calling for a bigger truck, they asked, a little pissed off
:
'' You don't have any shovels? ''
, Says Louis Witter.
Finally, the 4X4, stuck halfway through the door, was cleared by soldiers ... helped by migrants.
"Appropriate sanctions will be decided", warns the Army
The driver of the vehicle "
behaved completely inappropriately by engaging in dangerous maneuvers
", moved the staff of the armed forces in a statement, in which he "
firmly
" condemned the facts and recalled "
the requirement of exemplarity which is imposed on the soldiers of the French armies
”. "
The appropriate sanctions will be decided according to the responsibilities that will be established
", warned the institution.
The Pas-de-Calais prefecture confirmed to AFP that the events took place in Calais on Sunday and that they concerned a Vigipirate vehicle. “
The sentries are there on a mission to secure Calais and the coast. They have a mission of protection and the fight against terrorism,
”recalled Emmanuel Cayron, director of the prefect's cabinet.
This episode especially highlights the "
disconnection (with) the daily life of migrants
", reacted Nikolaï Posner, communications coordinator for the association Utopia 56. "
In parallel, you have several shipwrecks at sea this morning, with 16 children income drenched
"from a shipwreck, he emphasizes. Recognizing that "
it could have been dangerous
", Nikolai Posner nevertheless believes that the scene brings "
a little human in an inhuman daily life
".
Migrants have been massing for years on the French coast in the hope of reaching the United Kingdom by crossing the Channel on makeshift boats.
Since the end of 2018,
attempts at illegal crossings
have multiplied, causing strong tensions between Paris and London.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
France
International Migration
Defense