French dismantle migrant camp after 15 officers injured in violent clashes

Camp described as centre of a network smuggling people to the UK in small boats

Police officers patrol dunes at a beach near Wimereux, in northern France. AFP

French police have dismantled a makeshift camp on the outskirts of Calais where clashes last week injured at least 15 officers.

Authorities said police faced a barrage of objects hurled by migrants during an operation to break up a network involved in helping people to cross the English Channel to the UK. Three migrants were hurt, officials said.

Authorities returned on Sunday to complete the job backed by about 180 security officials, according to local reports. One person who was suspected of involvement in Thursday’s violence was arrested, reported the La Voix du Nord newspaper.

Police said that migrants on Sunday were given 30 minutes to clear their tents and belongings after an agreement struck between officials and rights groups.

The groups have accused authorities of taking tents and destroying personal effects as part of a campaign of harassment of migrants gathered on France’s northern coast.

The French authorities have for years launched early morning operations targeting makeshift migrant camps.

They are seeking to prevent the creation of a new Jungle – a camp of tents and jerry-built shelters on a former landfill site near Calais that became home to thousands of people before it was pulled down in 2016.

Thousands of migrants used Europe’s northern coasts as a jumping off point to travel in small boats to the UK during 2021.

Nearly 30,000 people made the crossing last year, more than three times the number of the previous year – which was also a record. The perilous nature of the crossing was highlighted in November when 27 people died when their boat capsized in the cold waters that separate England and France.

Britain has put pressure on France to try to limit the numbers but talks between the two governments broke down amid acrimony.

UK officials do not expect any sort of deal before French elections in April, The Times newspaper reported on Monday.