Five shot as bloody battles rock Calais

Warfare breaks out between rival migrant gangs

WHEN the infamous Jungle camp was dismantled, many hoped the chaos that had plagued Calais would be over for good.

But now migrants are returning to the city in their hundreds, leading to what officials have described as the worst violence ever seen in the French port.

Five migrants were shot in one day amid three clashes involving people smugglers. Gunshots rang out as hundreds of Eritreans clashed with Afghans.

Gangs of young men clutched makeshift weapons – including iron bars, stones and planks of wood – as they marched the streets of Calais, where almost 1,000 migrants have converged since the Jungle was torn down in 2016.

French interior minister Gerard Collomb said: ‘This is a level of violence that hasn’t been seen before. We have reached an escalation of violence that has become unbearable for people from Calais and migrants.’

He said the unprecedented violence was being instigated by gangs trying to control the lucrative trade in smuggling migrants to Britain on trucks, trains and ferries.

Speaking outside a police station near the scene of the clashes, he added: ‘There will be people here at their wits’ end faced with this increasingly violent presence among a certain number of migrants, who it is plain to see are organised in gangs. I have come here to reaffirm our mobilisation against the smugglers who feed daily violence.’

A 37-year-old Afghan was among the armed people smugglers being hunted by police last night for causing the violence that put 22 migrants in hospital, including five with gunshot wounds.

Four Eritrean teenagers, who were shot in the neck, chest, abdomen and spine, were in a ‘critical’ condition.

Dover Tory MP Charlie Elphicke said: ‘We cannot have a return to the Calais chaos which made life hell for tourists and truckers. It is shocking that guns are being used in violent brawls just across the English Channel.

‘The French need to get these migrants out of Calais and help them back to their home nations – and arrest the ruthless traffickers causing such mayhem and misery.’

The riot started at 3.30pm on Thursday, close to the Central Hospital in Calais, when about 100 Eritreans and 30 Afghans started fighting in a charity food queue. An Afghan smuggler is said to have blasted four teenage Eritreans with a shotgun.

At 4pm, a second brawl took place at an industrial estate about three miles away, when up to 200 Eritreans clashed with about 20 Afghans.

Two hours later, further violence erupted at another industrial estate in an area of Calais near the site of the old Jungle. As the situation deteriorated, a fifth Eritrean was shot by a suspected smuggler.

At least three migrants were taken to an emergency ward in Lille for surgery. The rest of those with gunshot wounds, and others with injuries caused by clubs and knifes, were taken to hospital in Calais.

The rioting went on until around 6pm. Police used tear gas and baton charges to restore order. Two officers were injured during the clashes and security reinforcements were deployed. There were no reports of incidents during the night.

Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart said. ‘This was fighting between migrants, these were turf wars. There are more and more guns, iron bars and other weapons being used.

‘We have to clear the area. The public can’t carry on accepting this situation.’