CALAIS: OUT OF AFRICA

 The Africa House squat in Calais is to be evicted next Wednesday (9th). After a herd of 20 CRS vans circled the squat scoping the site on Wednesday morning (2nd), they deposited an eviction notice with those present, informing the migrants they had a week to hit the streets. The building - home to Eritrean, Sudanese and Ethiopian migrants, many of whom had already seen previous squats and camps destroyed - has been marked for demolition.

Activists in Calais have reported the inhabitants of Africa House seem to want to defend the space. They are calling out for people to get down there to support the migrants and help them in the aftermath of any eviction.

Police presence in the area has been building since last week and activists have been on high alert. The pressure on the migrants has been relentless. Last week seven Sudanese migrants from the squat were chased down the nearby railway tracks and arrested. The same day police raided a Palestinian camp, arresting a number of migrants and spraying unknown chemicals on people's belongings and in their drinking water.

Last week also saw the trial of seven Sudanese migrants accused of the crime of preventing their deportation by refusing to identify themselves. The court provided the seven with English and Arabic translators so they could identify themselves and co-operate with justice. One spoke a little Arabic, none spoke English. Prosecutors accused the migrants, identified as C2,C4,C8,A1 and X1, of staying silent as a strategy taught to them by people smugglers. They were handed down three month suspended prison sentences and three-year bans from the territory and given ten days to leave the country.

 

Brighton Calais Migrant Solidarity are staging a demo to show support for the migrants on Saturday 19th. Things get underway at 12pm at Churchill Square, Brighton.

 

See calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com