Skip to main content

What is Really Happening in Calais and Why?

Last week I read in the British press about the persecution of migrants by armed gangs and the police.  There were ten cases of attacks on migrants, most by the police.  I sought to confirm these reports in the French press, the stories were confirmed but it also became clear that the British press were only telling half the truth. The French press also told a story of desperation and protest by French Calaisiens, the inhabitants of Calais. Apparently there has been an "economic slump" in Calais: 

  
"Pierre Nouchi, the owner of La Sole Meunière restaurant, says that business has seen a 40 percent drop compared to last year's holiday season". (See: Calais: a dying city).


Frédéric Van Gansbeke, president of the business group of Calais shops (700 members), supports the idea of ​​a peaceful demonstration to demand solutions to the economic and humanitarian slump in Calais. "But in France, to be heard we must burn tires,  that's how it works. The People harbour and dock workers are very angry. They are sick and tired." 


Calaisiens were also asking for a refugee camp with humane facilities:

 "Not a slum or like Sangatte, a camp on hard ground and in containers without water, near the port.  The present camp is a place made to create serious discussions with England. "  La Voix du Nord

It is interesting that UK papers and the BBC do not point out that France provides good, permanent accommodation for most refugees and that the Calais camp is exceptional.  Calais' camp is exceptional by International standards and clearly being used to provide copy for UK journalists.  The cynicism of the exercise is breathtaking.


Demonstrations in Calais are widely banned but  about 3000 Calaisiens marched at the end of January and made a humanitarian camp one of their demands.  The French government has relented slightly and will be offering a small amount of accommodation.  Shown being assembled below:
Humanitarian accommodation in Calais

 There will be a follow-up march in Paris by the Calaisiens.
.
Calais is being severely depressed by the migrant crisis, the poor conditions for the migrants are leading to frequent riots in the camps and these spill over into criminal damage and crime in town.  

Once we realize that the poor conditions in Calais are deliberate French Government policy the entire problem of the "Calais Jungle" has a different complexion.  The ruthlessness of the French government is extraordinary.  The French think nothing of destroying the economy of a town and risking the lives of the migrants to put pressure on the British.  The cynicism of the British media is also extraordinary, they know that they are being provided with a play, a performance orchestrated by the French Government, but rather than condemning the ruthless French they have accepted their positions in the cast of the play because it sells papers and programs.


14/2/16

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Falklands have always been Argentine - Las Malvinas son Argentinas

"The Falklands have always been Argentine" is taught to every Argentine child as a matter of faith.  What was Argentina during the time when it "always" possessed Las Malvinas?  In this article I will trace the history of Argentina in the context of its physical and political relationship with "Las Malvinas", the Falkland Islands.  The Argentine claim to the Falkland Islands dates from a brief episode in 1831-32 so it is like Canada claiming the USA despite two centuries of separate development. This might sound like ancient history but Argentina has gone to war for this ancient claim so the following article is well worth reading. For a summary of the legal case see: Las Malvinas: The Legal Case Argentina traces its origins to Spanish South America when it was part of the Viceroyalty of the Rio del Plata.  The Falklands lay off the Viceroyalty of Peru, controlled by the Captain General of Chile.  In 1810 the Falklands were far from the geographical b...
35 comments
Read more

Do Muslim women want to wear the Burka (Burqua)?

Do all islamic women want to wear burka?  Can a woman's freedom to wear what she wants oppress other women?  Are western feminists aiding a cult that is dedicated to the destruction of feminism?  I hope to answer these questions in this article.  I would much appreciate any comments you might have if you disagree with the article, especially if you have a feminist viewpoint. Here is a description of the problems of wearing burka by a woman of Asian origin: "Of course, many veiled Muslim women argue that, far from being forced to wear burkas by ruthless husbands, they do so out of choice. And I have to take them at their word. But it is also very apparent that many women are forced behind the veil. A number of them have turned up at my door seeking refuge from their fathers, mothers, brothers and in-laws - men brain-washed by religious leaders who use physical and mental abuse to compel the girls to cover up. It started with the headscarf, then went to th...
49 comments
Read more

The Roots of New Labour

This article was written in 2009 but is still useful to understand the motivation behind New Labour - from the global financial crisis through the over-regulated, surveillance society to the break up of the UK into nationalities. The past lives of Labour Ministers have long been sanitised and many biographies that include their shady communist and Marxist pasts are inaccessible or removed from the net. The truth about these guys is similar to discovering that leading Tories were members of the Nazi Party. If you are a British voter and do not think that this is important then I despair for British politics.  Had these people taken jobs in industry their past might be forgotten and forgiven but they continued in left wing politics and even today boast of being "Stalinist" or International Socialist (or in Blair's case, Trotskyist ). Peter Mandelson (first Secretary of State and Labour Supremo): "Mr Mandelson was born into a Labour family - his grandfather wa...
15 comments
Read more