EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CALAIS French artists and intellectuals condemn growing Calais migrant camp

Record ID: 135816

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CALAIS French artists and intellectuals condemn growing Calais migrant camp
  • Date: 21st October 2015
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 20, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BERNARD CAZENEUVE, SAYING: "Convincing people to seek asylum, opening up places in welcome centres for asylum seekers, protecting vulnerable people, that's the real humanitarian response, because as I tell everyone who asks me, the moor in Calais cannot be a long-term living space for
  • Embargoed: 5th November 2015 12:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1DUCB415UGF7XSGCRF04GJVJ8
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A group of French figures including former footballer Eric Cantona and award-winning economist Thomas Piketty launched an appeal published in a French newspaper on Wednesday (October 21) to improve conditions in Calais' growing migrant slum.
    Almost 6,000 refugees and economic migrants from countries including Iraq, Sudan and Eritrea are now living in the open in a makeshift camp with limited access to food, water and adequate shelter.
    The call from 800 artists and intellectuals was published in the "Liberation" newspaper under the headline "How long are we going to keep quiet?".
    The group listed inadequate food, insufficient showers and lavatories and a scabies epidemic among its principle concerns, describing the conditions as a disgrace in a rich nation and calling on the government to act.
    Speaking on Tuesday, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he shared the concerns of the group, which also included conceptual artist Daniel Buren and directors Jean-Luc Godard and the Dardenne brothers.
    "I hear them, I agree with them. They are the voice of a France which is engaged, united, generous, a France which refuses to turn in on itself," he told a news conference.
    But he rejected accusations that the government was not doing enough and leaving the work to voluntary organisations on the ground, citing 13 million euros invested in an on-site welcome centre and a commitment to house vulnerable women and children as evidence of government action.
    "Convincing people to seek asylum, opening up places in welcome centres for asylum seekers, protecting vulnerable people, that's the real humanitarian response, because as I tell everyone who asks we, the moor in Calais cannot be a long-term living space for migrants," he said.
    Cazeneuve was due to visit Calais later on Wednesday to meet with local police forces and politicians.
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