Violence continues to plague Calais and nearby Dunkirk, with reports of beatings, murders and violent crime now emerging from the two towns almost daily. The picture emerging is of a lawless region, in which migrant on migrant attacks and clashes between migrants and locals are becoming commonplace as anarchist groups fan the flames.
Two migrants were injured in a shooting in the Dunkirk migrant camp of Grande-Synthe on Tuesday afternoon in the most recent example of migrant-on-migrant violence. Locals reported hearing an “impressive” round of shooting in the area, la Voix du Nord reported.
It comes just days after the Republic’s Prosecutor in the region confirmed that a Senagalese man was murdered as he was leaving a nightclub in The Jungle recently. Police say they have identified a suspect, who has been referred to the prosecutor according to Nord Littoral.
And last week the residents of The Jungle burned down their own camp and threw fireworks in an act of defiance after the government tried to move them into purpose-build shelters with electricity and regular meals.
Meanwhile, Breitbart London reported last week on an attack on a Lithuanian driver at a garage in Calais which left the driver with knife wounds to his hands. A spokesman for the National Federation for Road Transport said the attack was not the first of its kind; his concern was that one day, the drivers will start to fight back.
And earlier this month, Breitbart London broke the story of two Dutch film-makers who had been violently attacked and robbed in The Jungle by migrants using knives and pepper spray.
Maaike Engels, who was attacked along with her colleague Teun Voeten while filming a documentary later told the Daily Mail: “Since September, when we began our project, we have both noticed a huge deterioration in the camp, with increased disease, drug-taking, overcrowding and violence.
“Two weeks before we were attacked, a Narcotics Anonymous volunteer from London told me crystal meth and heroin use in The Jungle were on the rise. Perhaps that explains the aggression and sheer audacity of our attackers.”
But there is another cause – the growing number of British anarchists living among the refugees, in particular Calais Migrant Solidarity, part of the British No Borders Network.
Engels continues: “As the deputy mayor of Calais, Philippe Mignonet, told us: ‘They are obsessed with increasing tensions and setting the migrants up against the authorities.’”
She says it was this group which prompted the mass arson which saw a huge section of The Jungle burned to the ground: “Earlier this month, the French authorities attempted to give some order to the Jungle’s chaos by building a container camp offering shelter to 1,000 migrants.
“We went down with our cameras, only to find the No Borders Network stirring up dissent. Their leaflets warned of a hidden agenda, claiming: ‘They [the French authorities] veil their threats of eviction with the sweetness of compassion, they begin by offering limited sleeping space in a camp designed to trap people and rob them of their freedom.’ Hardly helpful to homeless migrants seeking shelter from the bitter January cold.
“After an attempt to close down part of the Jungle, their website read: ‘The next time they come to take a piece of the Jungle, they can only expect one thing, a fight!’ And last week, parts of the camp did indeed erupt in flames ahead of the planned demolition.”
Today Calais Migrant Solidarity posted a report to their website claiming that three Syrian migrants were recently beaten with iron bars and robbed by “six fascists in plain black boiler suits, similar to police clothing but without emblems.” They allege that the three men also had their documents and money stolen, in what they say was “a well-coordinated operation.”
The report is unconfirmed.
Similarly, Calais descended into chaos on Saturday when thousands of socialist activists descended on the town to demand an end to national borders.
Violent scuffles broke out between migrants and local people, and amid the chaos rumours swirled that an Algerian man had been murdered by local people. It later transpired that the man was taken to hospital because he had suffered a heart attack.
Instances such as these are prompting local people to predict civil war in Calais soon. Commenting on Facebook, local resident Maxime Roy said: “No Borders … are there only to seek confrontation with the police – they love the thrill, the adrenaline, that’s why they are doing this shit. It is because of them that migrants are becoming more violent, which could lead to civil war in Calais.”