Police attacking Kurdish, Afghan, other migrants in France’s 'Jungle:' HRW

“Every day, they take our sleeping bags, blankets, water,” a 21-year-old Kurdish man said.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – French police in Calais, also known as “the Jungle,” routinely abuse asylum seekers and other migrants, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Wednesday.

Interviewing several asylum seekers, including five Kurds, HRW published a 40-page report titled “‘Like Living in Hell:’ Police Abuses Against Child and Adult Migrants in Calais.”

The report found police forces in Calais, particularly the French riot police (Compagnies républicaines de sécurité, CRS), “routinely use pepper spray on child and adult migrants while they are sleeping or in other circumstances in which they pose no threat.”

A 16-year-old Ethiopian boy in the report described being sprayed in the eyes by police. “This was not the first time this happened. It happens all the time,” he stated.

HRW also claimed police spray or confiscate sleeping bags, blankets, and clothing, depriving the migrants of basic necessities and going as far as contaminating food and water in the camp.

“Every day, they take our sleeping bags, blankets, water,” a 21-year-old Kurdish man said.

“It is reprehensible for police to use pepper spray on children and adults who are asleep or peacefully going about their day,” said Bénédicte Jeannerod, HRW’s France director.

“When police destroy or take migrants’ blankets, shoes, or food, they demean their profession as well as harm people whose rights they’ve sworn to uphold,” she said, admonishing the reported behavior.

Over 400 asylum seekers and other migrants, most from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan live on the streets and in wooded areas in and around Calais.

At least 300 more adults and children, Iraqi Kurds as well as Afghans and other nationalities, live in migrant camps in and around Dunkirk and Grande-Synthe, east of Calais.

In April, a camp near Dunkirk, which was originally mainly comprised of Kurdish migrants before the arrival of many Afghans, burned down after clashes between rival groups erupted.

President Emmanuel Macron has previously promised a humane approach to refugees, including reforming the asylum system. 

Many Kurds who fled Iraq have been in those camps for two years now.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany