France: Police use teargas and bulldozers to evict refugees

Flooded area of the 'Jungle'

The 'Jungle' in Calais has received another 350 occupants this week, after French gendarmes used tear gas and a bulldozer to evict groups of mainly Syrian refugees who were camping in a hanger in an old industrial estate. Elsewhere on Monday, riot police smashed the shelters of refugees living under a bridge and evicted them from a church where some had been living for up to a year. Humanitarian groups working in the area say at least one man was hospitalised.

Maya Konforti, from the humanitarian group L'Auberge des Migrants, told IBTimes UK: "They told them to leave, so they had to leave right away. They didn't have anything except the clothes on their back.. It's just totally inhumane. No care, not pity. When you tell people to evacuate, you can talk with them, you could have discussions... They didn't even get the time to take their personal belongings, they lost their money, their clothing, their documents, their phones," she said.

The authorities said they had carried out the evictions as the camps posed a health risk. But campaigners say the refugees will be more at risk of illness as the Jungle becomes more crowded.

Syrian refugees, who have been arriving in increasing numbers in Calais over the past month, have tried to find areas to stay outside the Jungle.

Phil Kerton from Seeking Sanctuary told ICN: "They are being forced to stay in there now. It the only place where they are "tolerated". Luckily, the Auberge des Migrants reports that they had just received a delivery of tents that were sufficient to house them. But that still leaves them without their personal belongings that were seized from their former encampments."

See also: ICN 23 September 2015 UN Representative visits Calais 'Jungle' www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=28374