France is facing the prospect of a new ‘Calais Jungle’ camp opening after the country’s only official migrant settlement was burnt down in an arson attack during violent clashes between rival ethnic groups.
The blaze started during fighting between Kurdish and Afghan gangs at the camp in Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk (pictured). About 20 people were injured and six suffered stab wounds.
An estimated 1,500 immigrants are now homeless. About 500 were put up in local gymnasiums following Monday night’s fire while the rest slept rough.
Grande-Synthe was set up at significant public expense by the local council a year ago to house Kurds found sleeping in a nearby wood. After the closure of the Calais Jungle, they were joined by scores of Afghans, who are said to have thought the Kurds got preferential treatment. Almost all its residents, who lived in cabins, are trying to enter Britain.
British charities say there has been increasing violence lately, with women and children raped by traffickers, according to the Times of London.
There are now fears that some of the camp’s itinerant occupants will try to set up a new incarnation of the notorious Calais Jungle, which was effectively a shantytown near one of France’s largest ports. It was closed down by French authorities last October after its population had swelled to more than 7,000 inhabitants.
“There is nothing left but a heap of ashes,” Michel Lalande, the interior ministry’s regional representative, said, explaining that gangs of migrants had set fire to the cabins at Grande-Synthe. “It was an organised ransack. They set fire to the cabins one after the other. To do that you need people who are determined and organised.”
Last week about 50 migrants from the camp blocked the A16 highway as they tried to stow away in trucks that were forced to stop. Roads were cleared after riot police clashed with the migrants, who threw stones at the officers.