France: migrants and police clash in Calais during the evacuation of a camp

Migrant encampment in Calais in northern France, November 27, 2021 (illustrative image).

AP - Rafael Yaghobzadeh

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In the north of France in Calais, clashes between migrants and police on Thursday morning, December 30, when the latter wanted to evacuate a camp.

Result: 15 police officers and several migrants injured. 

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Tear gas and bullets from defenses against stones.

According to the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais, from the start of the evacuation operation, around 9:30 am, around a hundred “

 ”

migrants 

refused to leave the camp, and the police were " 

 " - a police officer speaks of " 

 ".

According to Human Rights Observers, an aid network for migrants, migrants are usually allowed to take their belongings when leaving the premises.

But this Thursday, the CRS would have pursued them until the exit of the perimeter, ordering the cleaning agents to seize everything.

Hence the anger of the migrants.

And that's where the clashes would have broken out: they would have lasted an hour.

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Dozens of tents seized

The evacuation ended at the end of the morning.

According to Human Rights Observers, several dozen tents were seized, others destroyed.

In a press release, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais condemned the violence and gave “ 

 ”. 

The camp is located near a roundabout where exiles regularly attempt to board heavy goods vehicles to go to the United Kingdom.

According to the town hall nearby Marck, the site housed around 100 migrants - 200 according to Human Rights Observers - who had resettled there after a previous dismantling a few weeks ago. 

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