Afghan, African migrants clash in Calais; 22 injured

Shooting at food aid distribution leads to two-hour brawl.

Nearly two dozen migrants were injured, at least four of them critically, in a shooting and brawl that erupted between Afghan and African groups in the northern French city of Calais, authorities said Friday.

The mayhem — which reportedly lasted nearly two hours — broke out Thursday evening as migrants were assembling for meal distribution.

An Afghan migrant is believed to have fired shots, culminating an epic brawl between the Afghan and predominately Eritrean migrants who had gathered for the meals handed out by aid groups, according to French media accounts.

Approximately 22 people were hospitalized in the aftermath of the struggle, and four young Eritrean migrants were in critical condition, local prosecutors told the Agence France-Presse news agency. In addition to the migrants, two police officers were also reported injured.

The episode reached “a level of violence never seen before” in Calais, according to French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb, who arrived at the scene to oversee the government’s response. “We have reached an escalation of violence that has become unbearable for both those from Calais and migrants,” he said.

He said five of the wounded were struck by gunfire, for which he blamed “totally organized” gangs. Police are seeking a shooting suspect but have made no arrests, the Associated Press reported. The fighting broke out near the site of a vast Calais migrant camp that closed in 2016.

The shootout came at a time of rising tensions over the situation in Calais, a symbol of France’s struggle to manage Europe’s ongoing migrant crisis. Migrants have long arrived in the port city in hopes of reaching Britain, a mere 20 miles across the English Channel.

The government of President Emmanuel Macron has sought to address the migrant situation in Calais and elsewhere by prioritizing asylum seekers over economic migrants. But prominent critics — including some of Macron’s own political allies — have accused the young president of presiding over police brutality and a policy of exclusion.

In January, Macron responded to some of these critiques, notably a scathing report published by Human Rights Watch in July 2017. But Thursday’s violence was likely to exacerbate existing tensions between migrants and police.

Aid organizations in Calais said that violent outbreaks would recur if the French government did not improve conditions for migrants stuck in legal limbo.