France's Interior Minister Eric Besson made it clear in Ja nuary that he wanted to see all migrants removed from Calais and the sur rounding area by the end of this summer. And the project has already sta rted with the bulldozing of camps at Loon-Plage and Teteghem and the des truction of squats in Calais. Now comes the main act in this summer fest ival of destruction.
\nThe French Government are planning the dest ruction of the main Pashtun Jungle in the Dunes of Calais on 21st July\, prior to a mass deportation flight to Afghanistan. Campaigners are call ing for solidarity actions on both sides of the Channel.
\n======= =
\nMigrant camps to be destroyed in Calais\, mass charter deporta
tions to Afghanistan - Widespread human rights abuses imminent
Following the announcement that the destruction of migrant camps in Ca
lais will take place from 20th July\, 2009 and news that mass deportatio
ns to Afghanistan are being chartered\, we are writing to you to urge yo
u to take immediate action to avert this crisis\, in whichever form is a
ppropriate to your organisation. We have prepared a statement\, below\,
which we are asking groups and individuals to sign but also use as a bas
is for immediate campaign action.
&ldquo\;According to humani
tarian groups in Calais\, (see statement below) up to 2000 individuals i
n the Calais region of northern France are under imminent threat \;
gross violations of human rights because of their status as migrants. Fo
llowing the announcement on 6th July\, 2009 of a joint Anglo-French agre
ement for £\;15 million [1] to strengthen the French UK border\, hu
manitarian groups in France have been notified that an official date\, t
his Monday 20th July\, 2009\, has been set by French authorities to clea
r and destroy the makeshift camps that migrants have been forced to live
in in already appalling conditions.[2] This will fundamentally affect t
hese people's right to safety and will undoubtedly traumatize and destro
y the few possessions that they have. Official plans for people once the
ir dwellings have been destroyed are still unclear but we are informed S
alaam Association\, Calais that proceedings have begun by the French gov
ernment as part of the Franco-British Agreement to charter mass deportat
ion flights [3] to Kabul. \; While UK immigration Minister Phil Wool
as boasts of a &ldquo\;ring of steel that protects Britain\," there are
many individuals in Calais who are simply seeking safety and are trapped
by a European immigration policy that is denying basic human rights. Wi
thout urgent intervention that there is very real threat of mass refoule
ment [4] of asylum seekers back to countries of origin from which they h
ave fled and where they could face torture\, imprisonment and in some ca
ses death.
In the wake of the clearance of migrant camps in
Patras\, Greece and in Paris we believe that strong condemnation of thes
e plans and independent observers and monitors in Calais are urgently re
quired. We demand the immediate cessation of any attempts to clear and d
estroy refugee camps as well as plans to deport migrants who have a righ
t to seek asylum in Europe. &rdquo\;
Notes:
[1] Th
e UK has promised France £\;15m for border protection in return for
help deporting immigrants \; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics
/8136059.stm
[1] On 4 July 2009\, in her article for the Guar
dian newspaper\, Donna Covey\, chief executive of the Refugee Council\,
wrote: &ldquo\;The conditions for the migrants in Calais are atrocious.
They are camped on waste ground and in squatted houses in the town\, the
y queue each day for soup kitchens provided by local volunteers\, and ha
ve little access to facilities as basic as running water. Included in th
is group are unaccompanied children. It is to all our shame that they ar
e left to live in such appalling circumstances.&rdquo\; http://www.guard
ian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jul/04/migrants-calais
[2] On 5 November 2008\, the UK and French governments&rsquo\; att
empts to carry out a mass deportation to Afghanistan through a joint cha
rter flight were overruled by the European Court of Human Rights on the
grounds that the operation would violate article 4 of the European Decla
ration on Human Rights\, which forbids the "collective expulsion of fore
igners"\, as well as the trilateral agreement signed in 2002 by UNHCR wi
th the Afghan and French governments\, which stipulates that "the return
of Afghans who do not enjoy protection... will be carried out in a grad
ual\, ordered and humane way". In an open letter to then interior minist
er Brice Hortefeux\, MEP Hé\;lè\;ne Flautre highlighted the
risk that the repatriations would entail as "irreparable"\, referring ba
ck to the recent case of an Afghan\, Mohammed Hussain\, who was repatria
ted by Australia and ended up being kidnapped\, tortured and finally beh
eaded.
[3] The 1951 Refugee Convention prohibits the return o
f refugees "in any manner whatsoever" to places where their life or free
dom would be threatened [otherwise referred to as Article 33\; the nonre
foulement provision of the Refugee Convention]. As explained by the UK H
ouse of Lords\, &ldquo\;Article 33 can be breached indirectly as well as
directly. Thus for a country to return a refugee to a state from which
he/she will then be returned by the government of that state to a territ
ory where his/her life or freedom will be threatened will be as much a b
reach of Article 33 as if the first country had itself returned him ther
e direct.&rdquo\;
Many of the migrants in Calais will have travelle
d overland through Greece or Italy\, where they will have had their fing
erprints taken. Under the Dublin II convention they would be removed to
Greece or Italy on claiming asylum in France or the UK. The likelihood o
f an Iraqi getting asylum in Greece is 0% (UNHCR\, 2007). http://www.unh
cr.org/protect/PROTECTION/47302b6c2.pdf Therefore they are being denied
their right to seek protection. Crossing a border without the right pape
rs is not illegal if you are doing so to claim asylum.
In addition\
, the Greek government frequently carry out non-official forcible return
s from Greece to Turkey. \; Most take place under cover of darkness
across the Evros River or off the Turkish coast. \; Pushbacks at sea
or on the border do not nullify the nonrefoulement obligation and migra
nts deported to Greece face a high risk of being forcibly removed to oth
er &lsquo\;non-safe&rsquo\; countries outside the EU. (Human Rights Watc
h 2008) http://www.hrw.org/en/node/76211/section/14
http://www.refu
geeresearch.net/node/197
[4] CALAIS WITNESSES is a netw
ork of individuals who work towards supporting rights for refugees and m
igrants and have first hand experience of witnessing the situation for m
igrants at the UK- French Border of Calais. Many of the individuals invo
lved have witnessed human rights abuses experienced by migrants trying t
o reach Britain including police harassment\, forced destitution\, inhum
ane and degrading treatment.
ORIGINAL STATEMENT FROM SALAM
DESTRUCTION OF THE JUNGLE ON TUESDAY 21st JULY
According t
o verified sources we know that the destruction of the jungle announced
by Mr Besson before the end of the year 2009 will take place Tuesday 21
July.
The jungle of the Afghan Pashtun will be the first hit\, but
other jungles also risk being destroyed.
800 places have been "rese
rved" in different hostels. SALAM has already informed migrants and cont
inues every day its presence alongside them. Everything will be put in p
lace to ensure migrants can exercise their rights and do avoid the chart
er flight to Kabul. This threat is unfortunately there: after the Evian
summit of the 6th \; July agreements have been signed with the Briti
sh government deciding to organise forced deportations between France an
d Britain (who regularly organise
charter flights to Kabul). Last N
ovember\, 2 charter flights to Afghanistan were cancelled thanks to the<
br />mobilisation of all. SALAM calls out to all: DONT LET THIS CHARTER
OF DEATH LEAVE
Demonstration at the French Embassy in London\, Mond
ay 20th July
London NoBorders and No Borders Bright
on are calling for a demonstration outside the French Embassy in London
on Monday 20th July to protest the repression and planned mass deportati
ons of migrants living around Calais\, France. (see \;http://london.noborders.org.uk/node
/196 and http://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/)
Where: French Embassy\, 58 Knightsbridge London SW1X 7JT \; (nearest
tube Knightsbridge)
When: Monday 20th July\, 12.30pm