Yesterday morning 25/09/12 the food distribution point in Calais was closed by the local authorities. Last night at 6pm 100 migrants, associations and supporters gathered outside to protest.
Several squats where migrants have been living have also been evicted in the last 24 hours.
On 1st September there was a fire at Canet CRA (detention centre) in Marsailles.Tension had been high for a few days with detainees complaining about the food and several detainees resisting deportation. Around 9pm, mattresses were set on fire on the first floor and the CCTV cameras blew up. Detainees from other floors started to join in but the protest was quickly quashed by the police.
On 4th September. one of the detainees who was identified as being involved in the distrubance was sentenced to 8 months imprisonment and given a €1600 fine. Another detainee who was put in segregation after the fire and who has since been released has signs of being beaten on his body.
There will be a solidarity demonstration outside the CRA today (8th September) at 6pm.
On 21/08/12 Amnesty released a statement condemning the threat of eviction hanging over around 40 African sans-papiers living in a squat in Calais. According to the statement, if the migrants “are forcibly evicted, they would be left homeless and at risk of facing other human rights violations, and of being placed in detention, if they are found not to have regular immigration status, or being forcibly returned to their home country.” You can read the full statement in English here.
Around 16 sans-papiers are currently camping outside the town hall in Brest, following their eviction yesterday from the town hall’s foyer which they had occupied since 10th August.
A spokeman for local collective Casss-papiers told Le Telegramme newspaper that they have had had no contact with the municipality about emergency accommodation. The protestors include families from Serbian, Kosovo and Albania.
Local supporters are concerned for the safety of the protestors and yesterday evening helped them to camp inside nearby disused school.
A body of a woman of Asian origin, approximately 35 years of, was found on Sunday evening on the beach at Wimereux (Pas-de-Calais) near Boulogne-sur-Me, dressed in a swimsuit.
The cause of death is unknown, but is suspected to be either drowning or a fall from the cliffs, report Liberation. An investigation is underway.
Less than two months ago a migrant died in Calais after allegedly drowning in a canal. Friends and activists doubt the official version and have demanded that his death been investigated.
In the last week Roma camps in Paris, Hellemmes (Nord), Villeurbanne and Vaulx-en-Velin (Rhône) have all been evicted by the authorities. Remaining Roma camps are on high alert. The European Commission yesterday told France that it is monitoring these evictions “to ensure that European rules are respected”. According to Medicins du Monde, there are currently around 15,000 Roma in France. This figure has stayed the same for the last 15 years, despite waves of evictions and deportations.
In the early hours of Saturday 7th July Noureddin Mohamed, a Sudanese man who had been in Calais for four years, was found dead in a canal near the sub-prefecture of the town.
Police state that Noureddin stole a mobile phone, was then pursued and jumped into the canal where he drowned. Family, friends and activists on the ground do not believe this version of events and are demanding that the police open an enquiry.
You can read more, in English, on the Calais Migrant Solidarity website.
On Friday 8th June a revolt took place at Lesquin detention centre near Lille following an confrontation with police. Several detainees smashed some reinforced glass with the leg of a metal bed, and two managed to escape from the centre.
The following Monday four detainees appeared in court, and were each condemned to a 6 month suspended sentence.
On Saturday 2nd June over 100 sans-papiers gathered in Brussels for the first day of a month-long march across Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, ending on Monday 2nd July in Strasbourg. The march is demanding freedom of movement and settlement, you can follow its progress (in French) here.
A young “Albanian, Afghan or Palestinian” migrant aged about 20 was stabbed to death last Wednesday 16th May in Ouistreham, in Basse-Normandie, reports France 3.
His body was recovered on Wednesday evening on a dual carriageway in Ouistreham. According to initial enquiries, he was stabbed several times when he tried to board an HGV parked in a lorry park which was due to go to Portsmouth.
Gendarmes have arrested two individuals suspected of being involved in the murder. The investigators suspect the murder was the result of a disagreement between migrants or with a trafficker.