With the burning and clearing of the main migrant camp in Patras, Greece (see article below) it seems there is a Europe-Wide attack on those without the luck to have a EU-Passport.On Tuseday next week the make-shifts camp whoch the migrants have built in calais are to be destroyed.There are plans for mass- deportation flights to follow. Activists are travelling to Calais to witness, and to try to intervene in Calais as we speak. However, the situation is desperate and we call on all those who can’t make it to call the numbers below. Green MEP’s statement condemming the actions of the authorities
URGENT CALL OUT for activists, legal observers, journalists and video activists to support migrants in Calais against imminent police attack and deportation!
The French immigration minister, Mr.Besson has officially announced that plans for the destruction of the refugee camps in Calais and the subsequent deportation of refugees will take place this week between the 20th and 25th of July.
There is an urgent need for people to go to Calais to protest against the clearances as well as to act as legal & human rights observers as police begin destroying the camps and attempting to remove people.
Please act now in any of the following ways:
To go to Calais for direct solidarity this week:
http:// calaismigrantsolidarity. wordpress.com/2009/07/16/call- out-for-cameras-video- activist-and-legal-observers- in-calais/
For phone and email blockades of the French Embassy in London; Phil Woolas, UK Immigration Minister; the French Interior Ministry. All contacts at the end of this message at http:// calaismigrantsolidarity. wordpress.com/
To lobby your MEP:
http:// calaismigrantsolidarity. wordpress.com/2009/07/17/eu- council-directives-of-use-to- lobby-meps/
http:// calaismigrantsolidarity. wordpress.com/2009/07/16/ model-letter-for-mps/
To join in protests in London:
http:// calaismigrantsolidarity. wordpress.com/2009/07/16/ protest-against-destruction- of-calais-jungles/
For an Open statement about Calais situation to all concerned, to be sent to NGO’s, human rights organizations, Trade Unions, anyone else you can think of:
http:// calaismigrantsolidarity. wordpress.com/category/calais- witnesses/
For helping with direct solidarity in August:
http:// calaismigrantsolidarity. wordpress.com/2009/07/13/ solidarity-not-charity/
French Embassy in London
French Ambassador, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne
From UK 0207 073 1000
Non-UK 44 207 073 1000
58 Knightsbridge, London, SW1 X7J
or ask for police attache Msr Eric Battesti, representative of French poilce in UK working with UK police and immigration
French consulate in London
Tel 0207 073 1200
fax number 0207 073 1201
21 Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2EN
Phil Woolas, Immigration Minister
Constituency address: 11 Church Lane, Oldham, OL1 3AN
Telephone from UK 0161 624 4248
Non-UK 44161 624 4248
Email woolasp@parliament.uk
Honorary UK Consul in Calais
Telephone from UK 33 321 96 33 76
Fax 33 321 19 43 69
UK Consul General in Lille
Phil Boyle
Telephone from UK 33 320 12 82 72
Fax from UK 33 320 54 88 16
11 Square Dutilleul, 59000, Lille
French Interior Ministry
Place Beauvau 75008, Paris
Within France 01 40 07 60 60
From UK 331 40 07 60 60
UK GREEN MEPS URGE HALT TO ‘INHUMANE’ MASS DEPORTATION PLAN FOR AFGHAN &
IRAQI REFUGEES IN ‘JUNGLE’ CAMP
– British and French governments’ plot to deport asylum seekers breaks EU
human rights law, say MEPs in letter to European Commission.
In an urgent letter to the European Commission today, UK Green MEPs
Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert have called for an immediate suspension of
plans to deport around 1,800 individuals from the so called ‘Jungl Camp’
in Calais back to Afghanistan and Iraq next week [1].
Writing to Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Jacques Barrot, the
Green MEPs warn that the planned action, which is being taken jointly by
the French and British authorities under the Evian Agreement, would be in
direct breach of EU and international law on human rights and refugees.
Thousands of refugees and migrants from countries such as Afghanistan,
Iraq or Somalia are currently camped outside Calais in a squalid tented
area known as ‘The Jungle’. Around a fifth of them are thought to be
children, living in desperate and dangerous conditions, where people are
forced to sleep rough with little access to sanitation or resources.
In a joint statement, Caroline Lucas MEP and Jean Lambert MEP said:
“We urge the Commission to take immediate action to prevent next week’s
deportations – and to ensure that the French authorities fulfil their
responsibilities under both EU and international law, including improving
conditions for those living in the camps at Calais.
“The threatened mass deportations ride roughshod over the European
Convention on Human Rights, the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Geneva
Convention. And given that so many of those facing expulsion are children,
the plans may also breach the terms of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
“The vast majority of refugees in ‘The Jungle’ have had no contact
whatsoever with official authorities since entering the EU. We are deeply
concerned that there is a risk of deportation before these individuals
have been interviewed in order to determine whether they are seeking
asylum and are, therefore, protected by EU asylum law.”
Caroline Lucas MEP commented:
“Many migrants into France and the UK are fleeing from the consequences of
the West’s foreign policy mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Given this
reality, you might imagine these governments would take their
responsibilities to the international community more seriously.
“It is unacceptable that vulnerable people from some of the most troubled
countries in the world be treated so inhumanely on European soil. Many
residents in the camps are genuine asylum-seekers and not illegal
immigrants. It is important that those people fleeing persecution and war
have free access to the correct information so that they know they can
make a genuine claim for asylum.
“At present, these individuals are at the mercy of ruthless traffickers
who make impossible promises for significant profit. The presence of
hundreds of children in the makeshift refugee camps is particularly
distressing. Yet the French authorities would rather pretend they did not
exist.”
Jean Lambert MEP said:
“The situation at Calais is a mess and short-term solutions won’t work. At
the very minimum, we must provide dignity and health care to those in
need, creating the space to look at more long term solutions. These
solutions must be anchored in human rights and respect for international
conventions.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
A previous attempt at a mass deportation was overruled by the European
Court of Human Rights on the grounds that the operation would contravene
the European Declaration on Human Rights, as well as the trilateral
agreement signed in 2002 by UNHCR with the Afghan and French governments,
which stipulates that “the return of Afghans who do not enjoy
protection… will be carried out in a gradual, ordered and humane way.
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