Beach killing woman’s sis dies 5yrs on
1,000 refugees cleared from Dunkirk camp in traumatic raid at dawn
CLOSE Hannah, left, & Laura THE family of murdered backpacker Hannah Witheridge have spoken of another “unbearable” blow with the death of her sister.
Parents Tony and Susan Witheridge said the loss of Laura Daniels, 30, was “indescribable” after she was “gravely ill” in hospital.
Laura died five years and one day after Hannah was killed on the Thailand island of Koh Tao.
Her family, of Hemsby, Norfolk, said: “Our hearts are broken, our lives are shattered once more.”
Hannah, 23, was killed along with David Miller, 24, from Jersey, on a beach.
Last month Burmese migrants Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, who were convicted of the crime, lost their final appeal. They will be executed next year. MARTIN FRICKER in Dunkirk, France
Pictures by DESPERATE families seeking sanctuary in the UK looked on in tears as French riot police tore down their makeshift migrant camp.
More than 300 armed officers encircled the Grande-Synthe site, near Dunkirk, then forced some 1,100 migrants from shelters on to buses bound for immigration centres across France.
Violence broke at a motorway toll when migrants found out they were being ferried 450 miles to Brest, in the north west.
The migrants, mostly from Iraq and Iran, have two weeks to apply for asylum or face deportation.
But aid agencies are warning destroying France’s largest camp will not stop migrants trying to cross the Channel.
One evictee, Axa Xoshnaw, 41, of Irbil, Iraq, told the Mirror: “I’ve been here for 25 days with my wife and cousin. It has been tough. Conditions are not great, but we would rather be here than at home. “They are going to send us to places all over France. It’s no way to treat us, we have done nothing wrong.”
The French officers swooped shortly after dawn on the camp, home to 73 families, including many young children and several pregnant women. Migrants woken by the commotion emerged from their tents and began desperately gathering up their belongings. Children played football and tag as the police looked on. Other youngsters sat patiently in buggies or stood, backpacks
Family waiting to leave with belongings
It’s tough. This is no way to treat us. We’ve done nothing wrong
on, next to their parents. After an hour, plain clothes officers began separating single males from families and women and children.
Bemused migrants were led to buses, single men first, then families. Diggers flattened the site, scooping up tents, old buggies and children’s toys and dumping them into skips.
UK Border Force agents observed the eviction, which French police said was carried out over security and hygiene concerns. In August Home Secretary Priti Patel and French interior minister Christophe Castaner met to discuss how to stop migrants’ risky crossings of the Channel.
Refugee charity Care4Calais wants the UK government to process asylum claims in France.
Its founder Clare Moseley said: “Forced evictions don’t affect the underlying issues that cause people to risk their lives crossing the Channel.
“They further abuse the most vulnerable people in society. All they want is for their asylum claims to be heard.”
News of the impending eviction has led to a spike in crossings in recent weeks. About 1,400 migrants, including 100 kids, have crossed by boat since November. On Tuesday last week 92 migrants from eight different countries were intercepted.
Aid workers have warned the crisis will “get worse before it gets better”.
UK Border Force officials and the French are working together to find and stop people trafficking gangs.
Police are also using infra-red cameras and drones in a bid to catch the smugglers in action. AXA XOSHNAW MIGRANT FROM IRBIL, IRAQ HELPLESS Migrants queue up to board buses after being evicted by armed police Digger clearing tents from site