After the definitive closure of Sangatte on November 5th, the Calaisian Collective to Support Refugees (CSUR) has taken a few initiatives: they occupied two gymnasiums (which belong to the municipality -ie the maire.) They were evicted. It still is very obscure who took this decision: the maire - who claims he has not, asks for measures to be taken by the French government and denounces the humanitarian emergency of the situation- or the prefect.
Since Nov 8th, a church has been occupied by 100 refugees. This was negociated between the church authorities, the maire and the prefect. The prefect has given a deadline: monday -today- at three the refugees have to leave the church and go to the others places in other areas or they will be evicted.
The Calais organizations assure humanitarian aid for them -covers, food etc. The refugees said they will go on hunger strike.
Saturday, Sarkozy declared that he wants to "send a strong signal to the world", to show that there is no point anymore in coming to Sangatte.
The maire and the organizations stated that there was about 500 refugees in the Calais area this week-end outside of Sangatte.

There was a change in the attitude of the government yesterday (which is said to be the consequence of the pressure put by the support organizations) : the prefect announced that the French state will take responsability and "care" of all the migrants who keep on arriving in Calais, whether they are asylum seekers or not.
If they are willing to ask asylum in france, they are taken to CADA (these are kind of hostels for asylum seekers in France where they stay while their asylum claim is being heard) or if they are not they are taken to Housing emergency centres; they have there 5 days to take the decision to ask asylum in France.
The prefect has affreted buses which take refugees who arrive in Calais to these different places.

The problems are that, first, all these places are located far from the area (in other departments like Somme, Marne etc.); it is said that there is a list of the places but I am not sure the different organizations were allowed to see this list yet to check they indeed are taken there and they are there well informed about their rights.
Secondly, what does happen with the refugees who want to ask asylum in England? What will happen to the ones then who are taken to these emergency houses after five days if they refuse to ask asylum in France?

There have been two different reactions among the support organizations:
the Human Rights League, which was very vocal in denouncing the indifference of the government and wanted to remind him of its duty to take humanitarians measures- says that this decision is a really good step forward as the government takes its responsability. The maire was satisfied but still wants to meet Sarkozy tomorrow.
Others like the Greens, the GISTI denounce the incoherence of the different initiatives taken since the closure, denounce the dispersal of the refugees fearing that they won't be informed properly about their rights and want the guarantee that French authorities will respect the right to asylum. They stay vigilant.

The first actions last week were indeed to arrest the new refugees.
There has been about 800 refugees apprehended. About 100 received an APRF ( Arrêté préfectoral de reconduite à la frontière -"Prefectoral Order of Deportation"); After receiving such a paper, you only have two days for an appeal at the police in Arras, if not they lose all possibility for an asylum request later in France or in the rest of the European Union. After 2 days, this order becomes effective and you can be deported.
The greens etc. fear this is a way of preparing massive deportations.15 refugees have been deported -romas and moldaves.
For the others, it is complex: for instance the Irakis can't be deported: so they are officially illegalized through this order. But they could be deported later.
For all refugees then, their personal data is entered on the Schengen Information System (SIS).
The eurodeputees from the green parties in europe denounced these procedures of forcing refugees to sign these deportation orders on last friday.


This "official" dispersal of refugees is combined with a kind of "natural" dispersal: indeed, the refugees who are informed of the situation in Sangatte etc. avoid Calais and reach other places on the coast -little towns like Gravelines, Loon, towards Dunkerque -where the local authorities have made sure that all their public buildings -gymnasiums etc. are well locked, or even Belgium. Lots find refuge in the woods surrounding Calais as well. They become isolated, far from reach by the organizations that might help them.
The GISTI, the CNSP (national coordination of sans-papiers) have today made some communiqués to denounce the hypocrisy of the government which never informed the refugees in Sangatte of their right to ask asylum in France and of the procedures to do so, which then brutally closed Sangatte and arrested refugees, giving tens of deportation orders, and now pretends they have humanitarian concerns and take the refugees far from Calais, leaving them isolated; these two organizations reaffirm their demand of global legalization of sans-papiers.

The refugees who are still in the church say they want to go to England and refuse to go.