France Police brutality: daily life in Calais Jungle

Police brutality: daily life in Calais Jungle

Monday 31 August

Late this evening over two hundred people ran out onto the motorway to create a blockade. Once traffic had been stopped, eight nearby police officers came onto the scene tear gassing people. As more people began to run in to block the motorway the police began to use their chemical spray more heavily. This created chaos, a dangerous situation as  the motorway is situated at the top of a steep slope. A police officer in confrontation with one man, made direct eye contact and sprayed him in the eyes from a distance of less than 50cm away. He fell to the ground instantly. People demanded an ambulance be called, but police refused to do anything. Bystanders helped the fallen man recover by blowing smoke into his eyes to allieviate the chemical sting. The police demanded no pictures be taken of the situation and threatened to use their pepper spray. The presence of white activists caused an obvious reduction in the physical aggression of the police. After 50 minutes, the fallen man began to regain consciousness and blink his eyes. The police tried to push people back at this stage, using pepper spray. This was extremely dangerous as the location on the cliff, with a 3m drop below. The spray forced the crowd down, but put everyone at risk of being trampled. A young boy of 12 nearly fell during the rush from this top. This recurring scene occured just a few hours after French prime minister Manuel Valls’ highly politicised visit to the Calais Jungle.

WHAT PEOPLE NEED ON THE GROUND :

THERE ARE MANY OTHER ORGANISATIONS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF DONATIONS IN CALAIS. WE ARE NOT, WE CAN POINT YOU IN THE DIRECTION OF THOSE WHO ARE.

WE NO LONGER HAVE ANY STORAGE SPACE IN CALAIS.

* Tents, tarps and sleeping bagsPLEASE make sure that tents are complete and unbroken;
* Clothes, warm jackets, and waterproofs - particularly as winter is approaching.
* Bikes, bike trailers and bike repair stuff – are always needed and reallyuseful for people to stay mobile and get around;
* Pots, pans, utensils, plates, cups, cutlery – for people in the jungle;
* First Aid supplies – difficult to have access;
* Books, dictionaries, texts, zines etc – in any and all languages. Especially, English, French, Italian, Arabic, Pashto, Farsi, Tigrinya, Amharic and Greek;
* Games & music making – card games, board games, footballs, basketballs, and any instruments etc;

WE WOULD STILL BE INTERESTED IN BEING CONTACTED ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:

* Tools – for fixing stuff;
* Phones, phone chargers and sim cards;
* Cameras – we are always in need of good cameras as they are often damaged / destroyed by the police;
* People – if you have time, energy and any skills come and support people in Calais.