Calais riot police accused of launching a ‘vicious witch-hunt’ against UK-bound migrants
TWO charities claim French riot police are engaged in “systematic violence” against UK-bound migrants stranded in Calais.
Riot police in Calais face accusations of hunting down Uk-bound migrants, with force
Members of the Calais-based charities Salam and l'Auberge des migrants claim that local riot police have launched a “witch-hunt” against migrants.
They claim police have been stripping them of their possessions in a bid to stop them from reaching the port of Calais, according to French daily Le Parisien.
Jean-Claude Lenoir, the president of Salam, has accused police of “harassing and intimidating migrants,” and says the “hate campaign” had been stepped up since the ‘Jungle’ camp’s closure in October.
Migrants insist on staying in Calais until they get to the UK
A charity claims the police are stripping migrants of their possessions
He said: “Police have been smashing and confiscating their phones, beating them up, stealing their money, and stripping them of their shoes.”
They are being mentally and physically abused
Mr Lenoir said that the migrants had come to him to denounce the “unacceptable and life-threatening police practices,” before adding that some “40 migrants” were being assaulted every day.
François Guennoc, vice-president of L’Auberge des migrants, said that migrants were being driven some 30km from Calais by police and “forced” to walk back to the port town in bare feet.
The president of Salam went as far as to say migrants were being beaten up
“They are being mentally and physically abused. But local police officers are not the bad guys – the CRS, the hardline French riot police, are,” Mr Guennoc said.
On Saturday, the French charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontières) also accused police of violence against migrants.
The charity said that police had been stripping migrants sleeping rough on the streets of Paris of their blankets, and that, as a result, some had been treated for hypothermia.
'Brainwashed' pupils raise awareness for Calais children
Police officers in Paris were also accused of being violent against migrants sleeping rough
Doctors Without Borders added that police were using tear gas to disperse the migrants, and would not let them sit down as they queued outside the newly opened men-only reception centre in northern Paris.
“These unacceptable practices are putting the lives of migrants in danger,” a charity worker said.
But France’s newly-appointed interior minister Bruno Le Roux denied the accusations and said that police were simply “doing their job”.