600 at large after fire

Rich countries criticised for using aid money

GRANDE-SYNTHE, France, April 11, (Agencies): Several hundred migrants have disappeared after they were evacuated from a camp in northern France that was ravaged by a shocking fire that left 10 injured, according to authorities and aid workers trying to ensure alternative shelter and calm tensions.

Police cordoned off the camp in the Dunkirk suburb of Grande-Synthe on Tuesday and investigators inspected the site to try to determine the cause of the Monday night fire, which broke out following a fight between rival groups of migrants.

Most of the camp near the English Channel is now reduced to the charred remains of wooden shelters and sparse belongings of the migrants, who converged on northern France in hopes of reaching Britain.

As many as 1,600 people were in the camp when the blaze broke out, according to the Grande-Synthe mayor and the prefect, the top government official for the region. Some 500 were taken to three local gymnasiums, including one set aside for children and families — but most of the other migrants remain unaccounted-for, the mayor and prefect told reporters Tuesday.

Doctors Without Borders, which set up the site a year ago to replace filthy makeshift camps in the region, is holding meetings Tuesday to decide what to do next. Other aid groups are planning to distribute meals Tuesday to migrants in the gymnasiums and anywhere else they are found around town.

The first priority is to find the migrants dispersed by the blaze, said Corenne Torre, head of the humanitarian group in France.

“We just don’t know where they are,” she told The Associated Press. She estimated that at least 600 migrants

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remain unaccounted-for. Some fear the authorities, and others fear rejoining a camp with rival gangs, she said.

Donor governments have been criticised for shifting aid money from poor countries and spending more on dealing with refugees at home after overall aid spending hit a record high in 2016.

Official development assistance (ODA) reached a record $142.6 billion in 2016, a rise of 8.9 percent in real terms from 2015, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures released on Tuesday.

But of that total, $15.4 billion — or around 10 percent — was spent on hosting and processing migrants in rich countries, just over a quarter more than what was spent in 2015.

The Paris-based thinktank said donor countries should use their aid budget to prioritise development programmes in poor nations instead of spending it on refugees at home.

“Much of this latest increase is in humanitarian aid and spending on refugees in donor countries,” said Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, head of OCED’s Development Assistance Committee, which assesses aid spending.

“While both of these are highly important, we must ensure that we also maintain financing of long-term development programmes, especially in the least developed nations.”

Several international charities have also expressed concern over the new trend in spending.

Oxfam International’s deputy director of advocacy, Natalia Alonso, said while rich countries are obligated to host migrants and refugees fleeing conflicts, it should not be considered aid and development work.

Mark’s Church in Englefield, 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of London. (AP)

UK police honor slain officer:

Several thousand police officers from across Britain lined the streets of London on Monday for the funeral procession of a fellow officer killed in an extremist attack last month.

Constable Keith Palmer was stabbed to death by Khalid Masood on March 22 in the cobbled forecourt of the Palace of Westminster, Parliament’s home.

Two minutes of silence were observed by police throughout the country and by many others to pay respects to the 48-yearold husband and father killed in the line of duty.

London’s new police chief, Cressida Dick, said after the funeral that Palmer had represented the “friendly face of British policing” and would be missed.