JUNGLE MISSIVE

While the threatened destruction of migrant camps and mass deportations in Calais has yet to materialise, No Borders activists are continuing in their struggle against increased police harassment of the thousands of migrants currently in Calais (See SchNEWS 682, 684, 685).

Aside from continued raids on the ‘jungle’ – makeshift camps in scrub-land surrounding Calais – and migrant squats, in which migrants have been arrested, beaten and photographed, the police have also resorted to such lowdown tactics as spraying water hydrants used in camps with tear gas, preventing access to water in 35° heat.
Activists have continued to monitor police actions and stage regular patrols, which they maintain have kept the police in check. On Wednesday, activists at the scene reported how police threatened migrants with gas and flash-balls (plastic bullets) but retreated after being confronted by a patrol.

Although it now looks like the destruction of the camps is no longer imminent, the French Immigration Minister, Eric Besson, has reasserted that the ‘jungle’ would be dismantled “before the end of the year” and activists are still calling out for volunteers to get themselves to Calais and show their support.

* See www.calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com