IndyMedia - Vrij Media Centrum Nederland

Wanneer: 28/08/2014 - 10:10

We have received word that the French Government plans to evict the Calais migrant 'jungles' and Fort Galloo squat in the first week of September.

Over 1200 migrants of many nationalities currently live in these camps. Although far from comfortable, these are the closest thing people have to safe places to live. Some 300 people sleep in the 12,000 square metre ex-factory Fort Galloo, which includes a women and children's building and showers and toilets provided by Medicins du Monde. This mass eviction would be a human tragedy at any time. But it is particularly dangerous now.

The fascist group Sauvons Calais, together with France-wide groups 'Reseau Identitaire' and 'L'Oeuvre Francaise', holds a demonstration 'against migration' on 7 September. Sauvons Calais say on their facebook page that this will go ahead even if banned by the prefect. And we have reliable information that some neonazi gangs plan to arrive days earlier, and stay days after, to 'hunt' migrants on the streets of Calais. In recent weeks we have seen numerous brutal assaults by neonazis in Calais, including the attempted kidnapping of an association volunteer. These attacks will escalate as fascists arrive from across France, and it is only a matter of time before someone is killed or seriously injured.

So at the start of September migrants will face a double attack: first evicted by the CRS and gendarmes; then chased by fascists on the streets with nowhere to hide or defend themselves. Just a few days ago, Calais' UMP mayor Natacha Bouchart made a surprise call for a Government-run centre for migrants in the town. Now we see the Socialist government's response: no negotiation, just eviction. This will be the third mass eviction in Calais in four months, after the migrant camps were cleared by gendarmes and tear gas on 28 May and 2 July. These evictions are no solution to the situation in Calais, and migrants numbers only keep on growing. These evictions only create more unnecessary suffering, for refugees who have already escaped once from war and persecution. It is unacceptable that the French Government subjects migrants in Calais to yet more misery.

It is unacceptable that the French Government exposes both migrants and the people of Calais to a state of war with fascists on the streets. While the French Government abandons people to misery and fascism, we will unite to defend ourselves. We will resist the eviction of Fort Galloo. This is our home and our one place of safety from fascist attacks, with five metre walls reinforced with barricades. Abandoning it is not an option. We will resist fascist gangs on the streets of Calais. No Borders and local Antifascist groups have already called for a mass gathering of antifascists from across France and Europe to help defend against the neonazi gangs. We now ask comrades to arrive as soon as possible in the first week of September. We invite and call on all people of Calais, France, and the world to join us. Join us to defend Fort Galloo. Join us to shut down Sauvons Calais. Join us in demonstrations on the streets of Calais in the coming days. No Pasaran. No Borders.

Week-end of Antifascist Resistance 5th - 7th September 2014