News Update 19/06/2018
News from the solidary march | Gathering in Calais following death of refugee| Tent shortage in L’Auberge des Migrants warehouse| French refusal to accept Aquarius sparks controversy| Public Meeting in Calais about the future of the Chico-Mendès forest |
Spanish minister calls for removal of barbed wire from border fences in Ceuta and Melilla |Boat with 41 refugees on board blocked again by Italy | 682 migrants rescued near Spanish coast| Article by the Guardian describes actions of French police against migrant children
The solidarity walk
> Monday June the 11th : Bray-sur-Seine — Montereau
> Tuesday June the 12th : Montereau — Champagne-sur-Seine
> Wednesday June 13th : Champagne-sur-Seine — Melun
> Thursday June the 14th : Melun — Evry
> Friday June the 15th : Evry — Villeneuve-Saint-Georges : article Le Parisien
> Sunday June the 17th : Villeneuve-Saint-Georges — Paris :
Articles from Libération & Médiapart & Le Monde & Politis & La Voix du Nord & RFI & Le Parisien + video Cnews
Numerous personalities were in attendance, including Karima Delli (EELV MP), Lilian Thuram, Yann Moix, Cedric Herrou, Rockhala Diallo, aswell as representatives from SOS Racisme, LDH, Ligue de l’Enseignement, RESF, Emmaüs, MRAP and others.
The march in Paris was a great success, and was attended by over 5000 people.
To find out more, see our twitter
Gathering in Calais following the death of a refugee
A displaced person, whose identity has not be ascertained, died during the night in the town of,Loon-Plage sometime between Sunday the 10th and Monday the 11th of June. About fifty people attended a memorial Parc Richelieu on Wednesday evening in both his memory and in the memory of all the persons who have lost their lives at the border.
Tent shortage at warehouse of l’Auberge des Migrants
La Voix du Nord underlines in an article that has been a significant decrease in the stock of tents at the warehouse of l’Auberge des Migrants. We have estimated that more than 2000 tents have been distributed during the last six months.
The article states that “In its last report, the association criticized the State action. According to this organization, evictions are the principal cause of the decrease of the number of tents. More generally, Loan Torondel spoke about another pressing issue: the access to drinkable water: “ Water points are far from living areas, and are rarely in the same place” According to Mr. Torondel, no reliable timetable is available.”
Controversy around the French refusal to accept the Aquarius
In this article, FranceInfo describes the reasons given by French authorities not to accept the Aquarius, in defiance of Spain. French leaders have underlined that this boat was responsibility of Malta or Italy , denied that Corsica was “the safest and nearest port” and finally that the NGO SOS Méditerranée failed to make its request through official channels.
On Le Monde, you can find more information on the issues raised by this controversy thanks to the work of journalist Marilyne Baumard regarding the division in the En Marche party on the French position, the mutual accusations between France and Italy, obligations regarding international law in this kind of situation, the operations of SOS méditerranée, the beneficiaries of asylum law that could be welcomed in France, the Italian responsibility, the migration policies at the European level,…
Public Meeting in Calais about the future of the Chico-Mendès forest
On Tuesday June the 12th a public meeting was organized in Calais on the future of the Chico-Mendès forest in the Beau Marais district, where many refugees are currently living. Members from associations helping refugees were present in order to ensure that the voices of the displaced people living in this area were heard. This 1.5 million euro project is focused on the erection of fences around the forest as well as surveillance cameras. During the debate, which proceeded calmly, the mayor of Calais Madam Bouchart regularly referred the members of aid associations back to State services, something which La Voix du Nord described as speaking of “two parallel worlds” that could not understand one another.” After the public meeting, the discussion continued between current residents of the district, “present without any tension but without any rapprochement either” according to La Voix du Nord
Spanish minister calls for removal of barbed wire from fences in Ceuta and Melilla
The new Spanish Home Office minister declared, according to Ouest France, that he would do “everything he could” to remove barbed wire from border fences. These wire fences are responsible for many injures, some of which have been fatal.
According to Mister Grande-Marlaska, “it is neither reasonable nor acceptable to see people climbing the fences […] We can act before they get to this point, by helping at the origin in the migrants’ countries of departure ” he said. “We are talking about solidarity, about respecting people’s dignity while simultaneously controlling migration fluxes. One is not going against the other.” he added.
Boat with 41 refugees on board blocked by Italy
41 displaced people have been rescued from a sinking ship by US navy personnel and the NGO Sea-Watch. In a media release, Sea-Watch president Johaness Bayer asks himself about the fate of these 12 persons who lost their lives in this sinking “Maybe if the Aquarius wasn’t going to Valence, these people could have been rescued… […] it is unacceptable that these people, that were literally taken out from the water, who saw their friends drowning, couldn’t be moved to safety […] the debates around the distribution of asylum seekers mustn’t continue at the expense of people in distress.” In their communiqué, Sea-Watch called upon European governments to “find a solution to this humiliating humanitarian tragedy”
According to La Republica, the 12 bodies were put back in the sea by the U.S. Navy, as the vessels present did not possess the refrigerating equipment required for storing them.
682 migrants rescued near the Spanish coast
Just few days before the arrival of the Aquarius in Spain, Spanish coast-guards rescued 682 people. According to tdg, four more had already died at the time of rescue.
“Since the beginning of the year, more than 9300 migrants have reached Spanish coasts, the third European maritime entryway to Europe after Italy and Greece, according to the International Organization for Migration. This figure has doubled since the same period last year.”
Guardian publishes article outlining mistreatment of migrant children by French police at Franco-Italian border
In this article, the Guardian levels accusations of severe misconduct by French authorities at the Italian border. Quoting a report from Oxfam, they note that “French border police have been accused of detaining migrant children as young as 12 in cells without food or water, cutting the soles off their shoes and stealing sim cards from their mobile phones, before illegally sending them back to Italy. “
12 migrants died at the border last year as a result of restrictive migration policies.
Christian Salomé, l’Auberge des Migrants
Pierre Jothy, l’Auberge des Migrants
Oscar Léonard, Help Refugees
