FRANCE: SOME 800 PEOPLE FROM THIRTY DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES GATHER AT REFUGEE SHELTER SUPERVISED BY RED CROSS WAITING TO SLIP ILLEGALY TO BRITAIN
Record ID:
648407
FRANCE: SOME 800 PEOPLE FROM THIRTY DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES GATHER AT REFUGEE SHELTER SUPERVISED BY RED CROSS WAITING TO SLIP ILLEGALY TO BRITAIN
- Title: FRANCE: SOME 800 PEOPLE FROM THIRTY DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES GATHER AT REFUGEE SHELTER SUPERVISED BY RED CROSS WAITING TO SLIP ILLEGALY TO BRITAIN
- Date: 17th February 2001
- Summary: SANGATTE, FRANCE (RECENT - FEBRUARY 14, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SV/SLV/MCU REFUGEE CAMP SURROUNDED BY METAL FENCE; RED CROSS SIGN ON TOP OF WAREHOUSE; GROUP OF REFUGEES WALKING ALONG / POLICE VAN; REFUGEES WALKING; REFUGEES RUNNING OUT OF CAMP; REFUGEES WAITING IN FRONT TELEPHONE BOOTHS; REFUGEE IN TELEPHONE BOOTH (8 SHOTS) 1.04 2. MCU (English) AHMAD SHAH FROM AFGHANISTAN SAYING "I want to go (to England). When I know I can leave this camp then I can relax. They (British authorities) know about refugees. They know me and they can help me and give me a passport because I don't have anything." 1.20 3. LV FERRY SAILING 1.25 4. MCU (English) UNIDENTIFIED AFGHAN SAYING "I've been here for ten days, that's very difficult for me because for ten days I've not been able to go to England by tunnel because that's very dangerous. The train is in the way. We wanted to try the train but could not, some people died in this place." 1.45 5. EXTERIOR OF CAMP WITH PAN FROM RED CROSS SIGN TO MAIN ENTRANCE 1.50 FILE - OCTOBER, 2000) (REUTERS) 6. SLV/SV INTERIOR OF RED CROSS SHELTER WITH LINES OF REFUGEES QUEUING FOR LUNCH; FOOD SERVED TO REFUGEES; TENTS INSIDE SHELTER; MEN WASHING AND SHAVING; CHILDREN PLAYING OUTSIDE CAMP AND THROWING STONES AT RED CROSS FLAG (6 SHOTS) 2.25 SANGATTE, FRANCE (RECENT - FEBRUARY 15, 2001) (REUTERS) 7. MCU (French) SANGATTE MAYOR RENE LAPOTRE SAYING "The problems of the refugees in Sangatte are as follows: the duration of their stay --the camp opened 18 months ago, and their numbers. We went from 150 originally to 1000 and up to 1300/1400 people in a place which is not exactly built for so many people. The solution is beyond me and it should be up to the British, to the French and even to the European governments to find a solution. But for the time being, we would like to put an end to the arrival of refugees. We know that it will be more and more difficult for the refugees to go to England because of the new British restrictions. So, in another word, we should first stop the flow of refugees and secondly find a way to scatter them in other camps." 3.17 PORT OF CALAIS, FRANCE (FILE - OCTOBER, 2000) (REUTERS) 8. LV/SLV TRUCKS AT PORT/REFUGEES RUNNING / POLICE/ FERRY/ TRUCKS DRIVING ONTO FERRY INTO FERRY (MONOCHROME - AT NIGHT) (5 SHOTS) 3.57 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 4th March 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SANGATTE, NEAR CALAIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVABCAV1XEHVVOXGERZJ6BIAQL2P
- Story Text: Some 800 people from thirty different nationalities,
most of them Afghans, Iraqis, Kurds and Turks, have
gathered at a refugee shelter supervised by the Red Cross,
waiting to slip illegally to Britain.
The refugee camp on the edge of the village of
Sangatte near the Channel port of Calais, which should
normally cater for no more than 600 people has become
overcrowed.
A recent brawl among refugees snapped public patience in
this French coastal village, prompting calls for the Red Cross
to close the shelter.
Mayor Rene Lapotre said said he feared more fighting could
spill over into this normally quiet village of about 800
inhabitants.
Lapotre complained about the continuing flow of refugees
and stressed that European governments need to find a way of
handling the crisis.
"The solution is beyond me and it should be up to the
British, to the French and even to the European governments to
find a solution. But for the time being, we would like to put
an end to the arrival of refugees. We know that it will be more
and more difficult for the refugees to go to England because
of the new British restrictions." said Lapotre
Thirteen people were hurt in Sunday's (February 11)
scuffles, two of them seriously, when the refugees clashed in
the fenced-in shelter.
The fight came just days after French and British leaders
met in the French town of Cahors and agreed to tighten
measures to keep illegal immigrants from entering Britain.
Red Cross officials in charge of the shelter were not
available for comment.
A few days later, there was no sign of the tension that
split the camp. Small groups of Kurds and Afghans, who make up
a large portion of the shelter's inhabitants, were queuing at
telephone boots in a sunny square in the village.
Refugee Ahmad Shah from Afghanistan said he was keen to go
to England and that the British government could help him in
getting a passport.
"When I know I can leave this camp then I can relax" said
Ahmad Shah.
Ahmad who had arrived at the camp 10 days earlier said he
was not able to escape to England via the Channel Tunnel
because it was too dangerous.
"I've not been able to go to England by tunnel because
that's very dangerous. The train is in the way. We wanted to
try the train but could not, some people died in this place,"
he said.
At the shelter signs in half a dozen languages warn of the
dangers of trying to cross in the Channel Tunnel. However,
they do little to deter many of the refugees.
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