Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
French police clear Calais migrant camp
Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:24am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Pascal Rossignol
CALAIS, France (Reuters) - Hundreds of French police cleared an improvised camp dubbed "the jungle" on Tuesday where illegal migrants, mostly Afghans, gather near the port of Calais before trying to cross to Britain.
Dozens of charity workers formed a human wall before a group of migrants, about half of whom were minors, who carried banners declaring "the jungle is ours"; but police encircled the crowd and made 278 arrests as they loaded migrants onto buses.
"This is the violent image of France that they want to give. It's sad and it's a disgrace," said Vincent Lenoir, a member of the humanitarian association Salam.
Many of the migrants cried and shouted as they were arrested and led away from the makeshift tent city. Bulldozers later moved in to clear the zone.
The migrants will either be escorted back to their home countries, allowed to apply for asylum or forcibly expelled if they refuse to leave voluntarily.
Immigration Minister Eric Besson defended the operation, announced last week, which has been heavily criticized by humanitarian groups.
"This operation is not aimed at the migrants themselves. It's aimed at the logistical infrastructure and mafia-style networks of the people traffickers who sell the trip to England at a very high price," he told a news conference.
He said the "jungle" had become "an open air dumping ground" in which migrants were brutally exploited by criminals in unhygienic and unsafe conditions.
"NO SOLUTION"
But opponents said the operation was a cosmetic move that would do nothing to dissuade the thousands of illegal immigrants from desperately poor countries in Africa and Asia who try to cross European borders every year.
"As long as we don't put an end to immigration which is illegal but at the same time understandable we won't really be able to solve the problem," Christian Vanneste, a local member of parliament for the ruling UMP party told France Info radio.
"We have to solve this problem at European level. This is immigration which doesn't really concern France. We're just a staging post," he said.
The "jungle" sprang up after France closed a large Red Cross center at nearby Sangatte in 2002 under pressure from Britain, which saw it as a magnet for clandestine immigrants.
Besson acknowledged that European countries needed to improve coordination of border controls and he said France had proposed the creation of a Europe-wide frontier police force to control illegal immigration.
"European policies on immigration and asylum have to be made coherent with each other," he said. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
RPT-UPDATE 3-Blackstone, Lion get binding Orangina bid
Pittsburgh G20 summit
Bankers pay and the need to examine strategies for withdrawing state stimulus for the global economy have dominated debate ahead of a G20 summit in Pittsburgh on September 24-25. Full Coverage
Path forward to Pittsburgh G20 summit
More International News
Honduras police break up pro-Zelaya protest
| Video
Ahmadinejad warns against any attack on Iran
"Lebanon's Madoff" embarrasses Hezbollah
Farmers hand out free milk in Paris in price protest
Merkel centre-right hopes under threat before vote
More International News...
Related News
Striking French postal workers fear privatization
7:16am EDT
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
U.S. charges Obama fund-raiser in $290 million fraud
U.S. to push for new economic world order at G20 | Video
CBS fails to end Rather suit; Redstone may testify
Sun Micro losing $100 million a month, Ellison says
"Option" mortgages to explode, officials warn
Kremlin says Israel promised not to strike Iran
UPDATE 3-CBS fails to end Rather suit; Redstone may testify
Ahmadinejad warns against any attack on Iran
Graying Britain looks to assisted suicide reform | Video
UPDATE 1-Credit Suisse says take profits from Dell; add HP
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Future nears with bionic lens
Obama appears on Letterman
Obama deadpans on Letterman
Balancing act for US at G20
Right-to-die man passes away
More troops or "failure"?
Violence ahead of Mideast summit
Ex-president sneaks into Honduras
Supersized wind farm set to go
Ousted Zelaya returns to Honduras
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Commentary
Russia needs America
Obama's decision to scrap the U.S. missile defense shield has some critics worried it will "embolden" Russia, writes columnist Jason Bush, but the Russians would be foolish not to jump at the opportunity for a fresh start. Commentary
Europe, U.S., China must heed IMF
Blog: G20 protest in Pittsburgh
Full Coverage: Full Coverage: G20 Pittsburgh
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Journalism Handbook |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.