Seit zwei Tagen ist in Calais die Hölle los: Die Polizei räumt alle Plätze der Flüchtlinge und läßt sie auch nicht mehr zurückkommen. Es regnet ununterbrochen und die Flüchtlinge wissen nicht, wo sie unterkommen können.
Im Folgenden zwei kurze Berichte auf Englisch mit der Bitte, diese weiterzuleiten.
Die No Border Menschen haben keine Zelte mehr und kaum noch Decken, die austeilen können. Also ein dringender Hifeaufruf um Zelte und Decken!
26. September 2012
Yesterday morning at 6am many many police – PAF and CRS – arrived at the place of food distribution and kicked everybody out in the rain. A lot of people were arrested, around 50 people, and everyone was not allowed to take their blankets or sleeping bags with them (which had just been distributed two days before by Medicin du Monde) though they were able to take some personal bags.
People were released throughout the day – though not everybody, some still remain in the detention centre.
After the food distrobution by Salam at 6pm more blankets were distributed. Many people from the associations gathered in the distribution place and it was decided together by many communities that they wanted to make a road block in protest to the eviction that morning.
It was very beautiful to see, maybe 100 people or less sat and stood in the road to the port and blocked traffic. Plastic sheeting was brought and people made makeshift tents over the road. Cardboard sheets were written on with slogans like “where are our human rights?” and “we are not criminals!”.
Chanting and singing and dancing made the atmosphere a bit like a surreal party. There were many police – Nationale, PAF, BAC – who stood and watched for a couple of hours at a distance, directing traffic. A huge storm came over the demonstrators with thunder and lighting and terrible rain – people held out in the road in the rain until it was totally dark before dispersing to find places to sleep.
This morning at 6.30am the police came again in HUGE numbers. PAF and CRS. They evicted the area outside of the food distribution and arrested everyone. They were not very violent but really unpleasant.. They woke people by cutting the tents from over their heads and stamping on the plastic, with people sleeping inside. It was very cold and the CRS found it amusing that so many people were shivering and wrapping themselves in blankets.
The translator they brought with them did not speak Pashto or Dari – only Arabic. 95% of the people arrested were Afghan and so the woman walking round screaming in Arabic that everybody must go to the police station to show their papers and could take there bags, was not understood.
In the police station people were divided into language groups, Pashto/Dari/Farsi/Arabic/Urdu and put into cells. The police were calling the porta-cabin where most of their cells are, “la maison Afghanistan”.
We are unsure at the moment how many people are left inside – but it seems most are released. The last person from “la maison Afghanistan” was released today but we are still not sure about the other police cells.
It seems somewhat like a bad joke here at the moment. With the constant rain and now what seems to be becoming an eviction trend the days are very long and uncomfortable. We desperately need more tents/sleeping bags/blankets/waterproof coats etc.
27. September 2012
This morning the police visited the squat of the Eritreans. There are 16 people living there. They told them to take their bags and stuff and leave and that the house would be closed soon. It is not evicted yet but we expect it will be tomorrow.
All the houses squatted the night before last were closed yesterday by the police but have been re-opened, but will again be closed soon as police are sitting in cars outside of them.
Any people who tried to enter the place of food distribution last night were pounced upon by police who waited in the car park opposite all night. Many people were unable to sleep last night and walked all night in the rain looking for somewhere they could stay.. We distributed all our tents yesterday – also Medicin du Monde gave everyone plastic and Salam distributed blankets again.
There are many people in detention in Coquelles, including one minor who the police refuse to believe is under 18. Yesterday 16 minors were arrested in the raid on the Afghans. There are four children under ten here at the moment.
The people detained have the usual complaints about Coquelles – poor conditions, bad food, racist and humiliating behaviour from the police – for example, the officers have been holding their noses when people walk past in the hallways, implying that people smell. Many people inside have no idea of their legal rights, although France Terre d’Asile work inside Coquelles many people we have been visiting and speaking with have never heard of them. The police are deliberately trying to stop communication between the different sections of the prison – people are rushed to the hall for eating and moved out again very quickly so as they do not talk to each other. The rooms are full – up to five people in each.
Many people inside were people arrested in the big raid on the place of food distribution – the police took their bags and are refusing to give them back to people now in detention – always saying “tomorrow, tomorrow..”
People are unable to change their clothes. One man doesn’t even have any shoes as he was refused by the police, when they arrested him, to retrieve them from his bag – so he was walked barefoot to the arrest van and into the police station..
With the constant heavy rain and crazy numbers of police on the street people don’t know what to do with themselves. Nowhere is safe, nowhere is dry and people are so tired. Below and attached, a press release signed by 31 organizations opposed to violence against migrants in Calais by the new French government in perfect continuity with the previous government
PREMIERS SIGNATAIRES
Association des Marocains en France (AMF) – Association des travailleurs maghrébins de France (ATMF) – Attac – Auberge des migrants (Calais) – Calais Migrant Solidarity – Collectif de soutien des exilés (Paris) – Associations de solidarité avec les travailleur-euse-s immigré-e-s (Fasti) – Fédération des Tunisiens pour une Citoyenneté des deux Rives (FTCR) –Fraternité Migrants Bassin Minier 62 – Groupe d’information et de soutien des immigré·es (Gisti) – Groupe non violent Louis Lecoin (Dunkerque) – Ligue des droits de l’homme –la Marmite aux Idées (Calais) – Migreurop – Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l’amitié entre les peuples (MRAP) – No Border – Solidaires (Union syndicale) – Sortir du Colonialisme – SUD Education – Syndicat de la magistrature – Terre d’errance Flandre Littorale – Terre d’errance Norrent-Fontes (62) – Terre d’Errance Steenvoorde (59) – T’OP! Théâtre de l’Opprimé (Lille) – Union Démocratique Bretonne
avec le soutien de : Alternative libertaire, Fédération pour une Alternative sociale et écologique (FASE), Gauche anticapitaliste, Les Alternatifs, Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste, Parti de Gauche
Le 28 septembre 2012
Dix ans après la fermeture du camp de Sangatte
Plus de répression que jamais à Calais
A Calais, la police a mis à sac le 25 septembre 2012 le lieu de distribution des repas qui avait jusqu’alors bénéficié d’une relative immunité. Des organisations humanitaires pouvaient ainsi y assurer une minimum d’assistance aux exilés et demandeurs d’asile abandonnés à la rue. Près d’une vingtaine de personnes ont été interpellées et placées en rétention.
En décembre, il y aura dix ans que Nicolas Sarkozy détruisait le tristement célèbre camp de Sangatte, annonçant urbi et orbi que cette fermeture entraînerait l’arrêt de toute nouvelle arrivée d’étrangers sur les rivages de la Manche et de la Mer du Nord. Comme la prophétie ne s’est évidemment pas réalisée, il a ensuite chargé MM. Hortefeux, Besson et Guéant de rendre invisibles celles et ceux qui mettaient à mal ses prévisions à coup d’opérations policières. Sous la présidence de François Hollande, rien ne change. Au lieu de tirer des conclusions réalistes de l’échec des prédécesseurs, on poursuit leur stratégie en la durcissant. On s’attaque même au dernier espace humanitaire où les exilés pouvaient espérer un peu de paix et de réconfort.
Chasse aux Roms, poursuite des expulsions, persécution aggravée des exilés du Calaisis… On pouvait pourtant s’attendre à un peu plus d’intelligence et à moins de répression et de violence de la part du nouveau gouvernement.
Parmi les victimes de la dernière opération policière en date – Afghans, Erythréens, Somaliens ou Soudanais -, se trouvaient aussi des Syriens. D’un côté, la France plaide à juste raison pour le respect des droits fondamentaux à l’extérieur de son territoire. De l’autre, elle s’en prend à celles et à ceux qui recherchent sa protection à l’intérieur de ses frontières. Quelle cohérence ?
Les organisations signataires expriment leur consternation et leur indignation à l’égard de cette lamentable politique. Ils appellent solennellement les autorités de l’Etat à renoncer à la violence.
Contacts
– Philippe Wannesson (Calais) 06 83 19 98 94
– Jean-Pierre Alaux (Paris) 06 81 90 74 33