Officers moved into the Grande-Synthe camp in Dunkirk, northern France, Tuesday morning as part of the latest periodic attempt to clear out migrants camped in the area.
The camp was one of several that formed after the infamous Calais migrant ‘Jungle’ camp was broken up in 2017, scattering migrants to others across northern France as they continued their attempts to illegally come to Britain.
The camps, like the Jungle in Calais and Grande-Synthe in Dunkirk, have focussed around major shipping ports as the large volume of road freight traffic present the illegals with opportunities to stow away in trucks headed for the United Kingdom. They have been places of brisk business for people smugglers, who charge large fees for passage to Britain.
French police arrive on October 23, 2018 during an operation to evacuate a migrant camp in Grande Synthe, northwestern France. – A migrant camp of 1.800 person has been evicted by French authorities near the French port city of Dunkirk, at Grande-Synthe, northwestern France, on October 23, 2018. / FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP/Getty Images
Police stand as migrants gather their belongings on October 23, 2018 during an operation to evacuate a migrant camp in Grande Synthe, northwestern France. / FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP/Getty Images
An estimated 1,800 people, many of them Iraqi Kurds, were moved on in Tuesday’s operation, states France’s Le Figaro newspaper. The move started at 0730 Western European Time and saw columns of officers move in to place the illegals on busses.
The Associated Press reports the remarks of local officials who said the migrants would be moved on to official reception centres where they would be processed by the authorities.
France’s new interior minister Christophe Castaner, recently put in place after a major reshuffle as President Macron seeks to shore up his increasingly unpopular government, had said at the weekend he desired to “put an end” to the situation at Dunkirk and is expected to visit the site and speak to officers Tuesday afternoon.
French police stand as a migrant in a tent puts his shoes on October 23, 2018 / FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP/Getty Images
Migrants carry their belongings on October 23, 2018 during a police operation to evacuate a migrant camp in Grande Synthe, northwestern France. / FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP/Getty Images
The evacuation follows another such operation in September when approximately 500 individuals were bussed away from Dunkirk, out of a population then of around 1,000 migrants. The police intervention also targeted known people smugglers in the area through the use of identity checks.
As well as the border security implications of migrant camps around port cities, the actions of migrants desperately trying to force their way into vehicles heading to Britain have posed specific risks. Breitbart London reported in 2017 when the Dunkirk camp was originally ordered closed by the French state, which followed shootings and incidents of migrants attacking each other.
In June 2018, a truck driver in Dunkirk was “seriously injured” after being stabbed by two migrants who were trying to break into his vehicle in a bid to stow away into Britain.
Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook
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