EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CALAIS EVENING Calm in Calais as migrants rest after nights of attempting to cross Channel

Record ID: 145600

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/CALAIS EVENING Calm in Calais as migrants rest after nights of attempting to cross Channel
  • Date: 31st July 2015
  • Summary: CALAIS, FRANCE (JULY 31, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SITTING BY TREES VARIOUS OF FIELD WITH RABBITS MIGRANTS IN FIELD MIGRANTS SITTING BY SIDE OF ROAD POLICEMAN GESTURING TO COLLEAGUE POLICEMEN STANDING BY POLICE VAN POLICE VAN DRIVING VARIOUS OF EUROTUNNEL TRAIN WITH LORRIES PASSING BY MIGRANTS WALKING PAST SIGN FOR CALAIS "THE JUNGLE" MAKESHIFT CAMP MIGRANTS SITT
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1OJ0AE7BMQUASJH6E0REXGR4B
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Many migrants camping out in Calais rested on Friday (July 31) after nights of repeated attempts to cross the Channel to Britain by jumping on trains.
    Freight and passenger traffic through the rail tunnel have been severely disrupted in past weeks as migrants desperate to enter Britain have stepped up attempts to board trucks and trains travelling from France.
    Some 1,700 migrants approached the Eurotunnel site on Thursday (July 30) evening, with 1,000 intrusions and 30 arrests, a French police union representative said on Friday.
    But on Friday evening, there was a sense of calm around the Eurotunnel and in the makeshift migrant camp in Calais, known as "The Jungle", home to some 3,000 men, women and young children.
    Several migrants said they were exhausted from trying to access trains and others said they were deterred by an increased media presence around the French port which they said had led to increased security.
    27-year-old migrant Alghali left his home in Sudan two years ago, travelling to Europe via boat from Libya across the Mediterranean.
    He told Reuters men armed with Kalashnikovs threatened him with death if he did not take the perilous journey.
    Now in Calais, Alghali said he has decided to give up trying to go to Britain.
    "When we go to train, you can be died by the electricity, and then also the train will be crush you. So for that, we decided no, not go to the England. The others have their own decision to be in England or not. So this is my own decision. I take it to be in France. For this, I decide to not go to England," he said.
    Alghali is trying to apply for refugee status in France, but at the moment he must wait in the camp before he hears whether he is successful.
    In the meantime, Alghali fell ill. He said it was difficult to receive medical help.
    "I feel sick. Maybe about seven days, i'm ill. And the hospital of the camp, they are telling, they just take in 20 person for a day. Or fourteen person in a day. If you come late, they're not taking you," he said.
    The humanitarian and immigration crisis, in which nine migrants have died since early June according to French media, has turned into a blame game between Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel and French and British politicians.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register