Yesterday morning at 8am, without any warning, hundreds of armed police, CRS and Gendarmerie entered the main camp in the Dunkirk area. Since the large eviction at the end of September, this site and the surrounding warehouses have been home to over 1000 people.
The police were accompanied by clearing teams with heavy machinery who instantly began destroying tents and shelters.
People were forcibly removed from their shelters and escorted out of the camp. The authorities then prevented people from returning and being able to salvage any personal belongings. Many aspects of yesterdays operation contravened French and human rights laws.
Over the course of the eviction over 500 people were forced onto buses with no clue as to the destination. Many were driven over 5 hours away from the north to remote areas where they were deposited without a word. Our team arrived on site while the clearance was still ongoing, ready to support those who had not been forced onto buses or that had evaded the police.
Alongside Care4Calais, our volunteers distributed tents, tarps and sleeping bags to the hundreds of people remaining. Despite our efforts, many who returned later in the day had no way of contacting organisations and were forced to spend the night sleeping on the cold forest floor.
Over the coming days, our team will increase their presence on the ground to support people returning to the area.
As one of the only organisations distributing essential items such as tents and sleeping bags, responding to this eviction is putting enormous strain on our stock.
If you are able to donate to our new winter fundraiser to enable us to purchase these items please do. One tent for two people is just £10, so every little truly helps.
Years have shown that these aggressive methods do not work, and instead push people to take even more extreme risks to escape this persecution. We at MRS completely denounce these inhumane operations.
In Solidarity. In Defiance.