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Fire destroys Dunkirk migrant camp
[ April 11, 2017 // Chris ]The troubled migrants’ camp at Grande-Synthe, near the port of Dunkirk – already earmarked by the French authorities for dismantling because of continued unrest – has been burned down. It was reported that the fire started as a result of a fight among some of the 1,500 occupants.
At least ten people have been reported to have been injured.
The camp was created as an alternative to the now closed unofficial ‘Jungle’ camp near the port of Calais.
The Freight Transport Association’s head of European policy, and the tragic fire overnight at the Grande-Synthe camp near Dunkirk has left hundreds of people, including women and children, with nowhere to go and nowhere to sleep. The French authorities need to act swiftly to rehouse the displaced people, and ensure that those arriving in the area can be safely housed and their asylum claims assessed swiftly and efficiently, to prevent further build-up of numbers in the area.
“The French Government also needs to ensure that freight operators and drivers using the routes to the Channel ports get a safe passage through the region. Our members still report cases of migrant incursion, and the recent events could exacerbate the problem. They need to be able to go through this region without having to worry about potential violence or migrants’ attempts to board lorries bound for the UK.”