LOST IN TRANSNATIONAL

Hundreds took to the streets of Paris and Berlin to protest the treatment of migrants in Calais at last Saturday’s (15th) day of transnational action.

A crowd of over 200 people joined the main demonstration in Paris, despite police attempts to disrupt the action by ordering all cars to leave the area and shops to close. The protesters stopped traffic and set off flares in their calls for an end to the escalating repression of migrants in Calais and across Europe. Afghan migrants gathered to watch, despite threats from the police to arrest any migrants associating with the No Borders activists.

At a simultaneous demonstration in Berlin, several hundred people protested outside the French Cultural centre.

Following the demo, No Borders activists put out an urgent call out for activists to join the campaign in Calais as numbers have now dropped while police harassment is on the increase.

The ‘Africa House’ squat in Calais is facing daily raids, with the CRS (riot police) harassing activists and arresting migrants, often violently. The morning before the demonstration, the CRS forced their way in, smashed up tents and cooking utensils and poured the migrants’ water over their bedding. While the activists were rounded up and searched, 19 migrants were arrested.

Police have also returned to the Hazara and Pashto camps, now little more than scattered shelters built out of scraps of tarpaulin. Still, the CRS have trashed what camps they have found and arrested any migrants they have seen, usually those leaving their hiding places to head to charity food distribution centres.

* See www.calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com