September 5 will see an unprecedented move against the Calais “Jungle” migrant camp organized by local shopkeepers, businessmen, farmers and police unionists.
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Meanwhile, Calais’ mayor Natacha Bouchart said that she had received assurances from Cazeneuve that the camp would be dismantled “in one go”, noting, however, that no date had been set for the operation.
The Calais Refugee Camp has been a hub for migrants hoping to cross through the Euro-Tunnel to the United Kingdom, or to hop a ferry to take them across.
Cazeneuve’s comments to the Nord Littoral daily newspaper came a day before he is due to visit the camp.
Two migrants were seriously hurt on Tuesday in what appears to have been a fight between Sudanese and Afghan residents.
The minister said that fully dismantling the camp – half of which was razed in March – is the goal but he wants it done “in stages”. Seven others were killed this year on the roads.
A planned go-slow protest by lorry drivers tomorrow in Calais is likely to cause huge tailbacks for thousands of Britons returning home from Europe after the summer break.
But tensions are also rising among Calais locals and those with a stake in its economy.
The organizers plan to block the A16 motorway leading to the port with a “human chain”, and are pledging that they will not break it until the “Jungle”, blamed for the worsening security and economic situation in the area, is totally dismantled.
He said he had taken the case to the country’s supreme court – the State Council – in a bid to tear down the makeshift stalls and continue to dismantle the camp’s north zone.
The groups called on the French government to quickly expand its ability to take in migrants elsewhere and demand that Britain shoulder its responsibility – or threaten an end to the Touquet accords.
Now a record 1,900 French police are operating in Calais, and Cazeneuve said another 200 would be added to their ranks “to reinforce the battle” against migrants smuggling themselves onto lorries bound for Britain. Undoing them would return British police, customs officials and sniffer dogs to their home across the English Channel and put the onus on Britain to screen migrants wanting to live there. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
She said: “We tried that once before, and yet the number of refugees living in the camp has doubled”.
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