IndyMedia - Vrij Media Centrum Nederland

Wanneer: 10/01/2014 - 21:43

(Warning: this is only a short mashup of the news that can be read from the local newspaper. More news from the activists themselves will evetually follow).

Thursday, january 9, the authorities of Calais discovered that some no-border activists had squatted a house on the Saint Omer road, in the outskirts of Calais. Although the activists could prove they had occupied the house for more than 48 hours, they were evicted friday by an overkill of police forces.

According to the local newspaper, they intended to use the house as place for no-border activists, not as a squat to be inhabited by migrants. In and near Calais migrants occupy small patches of land or derelict buildings, often grouped along language or ethnic families. It has proved extremely difficult for the migants to squat buildings by themselves because of the heavy and blatently racist police repression.

Friday afternoon the police evicted the freshly squatted building. National and local police and several vans of CRS (riot police) arrested 4 people. One activist was reportedly lightly injured and driven to hospital. The house was immediately walled afterwards. This was clearly another illegal eviction according to french law. The house had been occupied since last weekend, and after the first 48 hours of occupation the authorities should first start some court proceedings before evicting the inhabitants. The illegallity of the eviction was also explained to the local press by the lawyer of the activists, Me Rueff.

Friday evening all 4 arrestees were released without charges. Their respective nationalities were was purposedly published: apparently the authorities still believe in their campaign to accuse 'the foreigners' (the noborder activists) of being the ones to blame for 'the burden of the other foreigners' (the migrants from all over the world who seek refuge in Europe and wait in Calais for a chance to get to the UK). One activist successfully refused to decline his identity. The wounded person was explained by the cops as having hit his own head on the wall.

Link with pictures:

http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/region/squat-evacue-ce-vendredi-midi-a-calais...