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Police evict new No Borders/ SOS Sans Papiers space Calais

no one is illegal! | 07.02.2010 17:12 | Free Spaces | Migration | Repression

Police force entry and arrest all those who were inside, who all had papers. Illegal eviction of space.

Phoned in report from Calais, 16.45 Uk time
-As of about 3 or 4pm there were about 30-40 migrants still at Krondstat and many police surrounded the space. Riot vans were lined up outside to block the view from media. No Borders activists encouraged the migrants to go or stay as they pleased. All voluntarily left. As the No Borders crew were trying to decide whether or not to allow police in to see that there were no people without papers there, police forced their way in by smashing windows and and arrested all the people. No major injuries as far as we know. After having IDs checked hey are now being released a few at a time. There are a lot of police on the ground, around 20 vans of CRS just by the hotel police. Rumours of mass arrests tonight. Migrants are currently being chased and arrested around the town. No one sure what will happen as the night goes on.
More updates to follow.

no one is illegal!
- Homepage: http://calaismigrantsolidarity@wordpress.com

Comments

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well then...

08.02.2010 00:53

Well done.

You set up the centre in full view of the french police knowing they would try this. You also ensured dozens of riot police have been drafted in. As a result, the migrants are now widely dispersed around the town. Most of them alone, and easily picked up and removed by French immigration.

And it appears that there have been injuries.

Well bloody done, now somebody else is going to have to clean your mess up.

concerned


Re: Well then

08.02.2010 04:48

Police (some of them CRS riot police) have been 'drafted in' nearly every night for months to hunt/arrest/attack migrants, they have been ensuring that all belongings such blankets are taken or rendered unusable.

The migrants have been very widelly dispersed since the numerous camp destructions and squat evictions towards the end of last year - if they gather in any numbers they are almost sure of an unfriendly visit from 'le flic' . Not that sleeping rough under a bridge on your own is any protectiong from a state sponsored kicking.

So no the police havn't suddenly been kicked into action by the brief opening of the centre.

In addition activists from calais migrant solidarity, no borders and others have been on the ground in calais continuously since the begining of last summer. No doubt they will maintain a presence for many months to come, so they are not leaving anything for other people to clear up.



Ether


@ concerned

08.02.2010 12:20

Migrants, many of them minors, have been living rough in Calais and the surrounding scrubland throughout the winter. Most nights they are being chased, arrested and sometimes beaten by police if they try to find a safe place to sleep or get harrassed when they approach food distribution places. The point of renting a safe place for people to stay was to a) provide shelter for anyone DECIDING FOR THEMSELVES they want to stay there and b) making it quite clear to all that this is a humanitarian crisis that won't go away just because the police try to clear the streets at night.
What you don't understand is that this has been done with the support and agreement of migrants. Interpreters made sure of that. They knew this was partly a political act of defiance, a radical resistance to limits on our freedom of movement. It was migrants themselves who were shouting 'Freedom!' They are NOT mindless sheep being manipulated, many are fully politically engaged - that's why so many have been forced to leave their countries in the first place. No borders activists are supporting their right to freedom of movement, not directing their movements.

anon