- Title: France clears migrant camp outside Dunkirk
- Date: 17th September 2019
- Summary: GRANDE SYNTHE, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) TENTS IN MIGRANT CAMP VARIOUS OF MIGRANT CAMP WITH POLICE MIGRANTS WITH SUITCASES WALKING TOWARDS BUSES, MIGRANTS WAITING TO GET ON BUSES, POLICE STANDING BY VARIOUS OF GENERAL SECRETARY OF VOLUNTEER MIGRANT AID ASSOCIATION, SALAM, CLAIRE MILLOT, TALKING TO BYSTANDERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) GENERAL SECRETARY OF VOLUNTEER MIGRANT AID ASSOCIATION, SALAM, CLAIRE MILLOT, SAYING: "It's not a relief. Because they get in a bus -- the sub-prefect himself said they get in without making a fuss, no one resists of course because if they resist they're sent to a detention centre, they told us troublemakers will go to a detention centre -- so they don't resist and they get on the buses, because they know they're not going to an abattoir, they're going somewhere where they can eat and have a shower. Some will be back tomorrow, some in a fortnight, maybe some will go to Belgium, maybe they'll go to Calais or more towards Normandy, but whatever happens they're going to try to get through (to Britain) again." MIGRANTS BEHIND RAILINGS GUARDED BY POLICE MIGRANTS SITTING ON FLOOR BEHIND RAILINGS MIGRANTS WALKING TO BUS (SOUNDBITE) (French) PREFECT OF HAUTS-DE-FRANCE REGION AND NORTH AREA, MICHEL LALANDE, SAYING: "Everything's taking place calmly, without trouble. I think that everyone was happy to get out of the slum that was the Grande Synthe camp and we are shutting it down this morning and that's good news for the law and for human rights." LALANDE VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING TO BUS WHILE POLICE STAND BY MIGRANTS BOARDING BUS WHILE POLICE STAND BY BUS LEAVING BUS LEAVING FOLLOWED BY POLICE VAN WHILE POLICE ON MOTORBIKES STAND BY (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAYOR OF GRANDE SYNTHE, MARTIAL BEYAERT, SAYING: "Of course we've had experience in Grande Synthe of the return of refugees which is sad but I think now that with the relationship we've developed with the government, the information there is, the proposition of repatriation for some but also of accommodation in welcome centres, I think it's in their interest to accept this French welcome. DUNKIRK, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SHIPS IN DUNKIRK HARBOUR CRANE IN DUNKIRK HARBOUR
- Embargoed: 1st October 2019 12:14
- Keywords: migrants evacuation camp Grande Synthe police
- Location: GRANDE-SYNTHE AND DUNKIRK, FRANCE
- City: GRANDE-SYNTHE AND DUNKIRK, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA001AX1QIBR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Around 1,000 people were displaced after French police began dismantling a migrant camp in Dunkirk, northern France, on Tuesday (September 17) following a court order to clear it.
The camp in the suburb of Grande Synthe housed nearly 200 in a gymnasium and 800 in tents nearby and had grown since it was opened at the end of 2018 when the then mayor offered the building for migrants to sleep in.
The police operation began just after 0800 local time (0600 GMT) with migrants -- mostly young men with many Iraqi Kurds -- taken to temporary shelters where they can apply for asylum.
The closure had been expected since a court in Lille ruled it should be closed on September 4.
France's north coast has seen multiple migrant camps formed and cleared by police since the destruction of the infamous "Jungle" in Calais in 2016.
The numbers of migrants trying to cross the English Channel to Britain in small boats is on the rise, with 41 migrants intercepted in a single day on September 15 according to the British interior ministry.
(Production: Corentin Escaillet, Katie Carlson) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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