Violences lors d'une tentative de traversée
Rapporté en mars 2025
Témoignage relaté par une personne habitant à Calais, suite à des violences policières subies sur une plage du littoral nord. Les faits datent du 9 mars 2025, aux alentours de 16:30, alors qu’un groupe d’une cinquantaines de personnes tente la traversée vers l’Angleterre. Ce groupe incluait des familles, des femmes, et des enfants.
“Il y avait une tentative de traverser pour aller en Angleterre. A ce moment là, il portait avec d’autres personnes un bateau gonflable. Un drone et un hélicoptère ont commencé à tirer des balles lacrymogènes. Il à été touché. Il me dit que c’était des bombes lacrymogènes.”
“Les tirs, ca venait des policiers qui étaient derrière eux, à environ 100, 150 mètres. Ils avaient une sorte de fusil”
La personne à été touché à l’épaule gauche par un tir lacrymogène.
“Il dit qu’il avait une veste qui à été brulée, et il y en a une [balle] qui à touché le bateau gonflable et une qui a touché la réserve d’essence. Ca à touché et créé beaucoup de fumée noire. Il a failli brûler, donc ils ont tous fui. Il dit que ça pouvait être une situation catastrophique.”
“Ils ont porté le bateau et l’hélicoptère et le drone sont apparus. Les tirs ont commencé même pas deux minutes après l’apparition du drone”
La personne précise avoir entendu plus de 10 tirs de grenade lacrymogènes.
(Témoignage relaté en Arabe, avec la médiation d’un traducteur)
Personne exilée vivant à Calais
Rapporté le 12.02.2025
“[La police] nous parle avec aucun respect, même pas un minimum de respect. Ils pourraient nous demander de sortir des tentes, nous parler, au lieu de ça ils nous crient dessus et nous sortent des tentes la nuit. Moi j’ai du respect pour la police, et eux, ils n’en ont aucun, je ne comprends pas. J’ai essayé de leur parler, ils m’ont dit de me taire.
“Vous, vous avez des papiers d’identité. Moi aussi j’ai des papiers d’identité, mais les miens ils ne suffisent pas, je ne comprends pas.”
(Témoignage relaté en Anglais)
We feel fear, always fear, fear
Reported on 29.01.2024
Testimony shared by a Punjabi man living in Calais for a few months, trying to cross the English Channel to visit a family member.
“When we go to the police they won’t help us. They just give us jail when we go to the supermarket to purchase anything, they give us the jails. Like 24 hours or 48 hours, they don’t want to listen to us.”
“The first time the police came into the camp, it was fear. We got into jail. It was like the fear of the first person, fear of the child to hold the fire, he doesn’t know what is fire.”
“The second time it was casual. They will get you in jail, maybe one day we will be out. The third and fourth time it was casual, it is now like the daily soap we have to apply to our body. It is like the daily thing.”
“24/7 we have the stress of the mind, like some person will come, they will stab on the chest, like we will die one day over here, sleeping in the tent”
“Maybe they think that we will stab someone. Really, we stab someone? They are stabbing us. They are stabbing us in our minds. Not in the chest, they are stabbing us in our minds. One day we will be killed. Our mind is being killed, Everyday, a new problem, a new situation.”
“Because of this we feel fear, always fear, fear.”
“My friends were going over there [to the water tank] and were attacked by five to six people, two people being attacked by six people. He was carrying to cans, one for my friend and his. He was carrying two cans and six people came over. He had to throw the cans and run for his life, otherwise they would stab him.”
“Recently one of the people mixed something in the water. Maybe to kill us. We have to call the Calais water service [referring to Calais Food Collective], to ask they to please change the water. It was a French person I don’t know. He was white. He peed on the water tank and mixed something in the water."
Arrestation violente à Calais
Rapporté le 27.10.2024
“La police est venue dans notre camp aujourd’hui, et a arrêté mon ami. Ils ont volé les tentes et leur contenu. Mon ami ne leur a rien dit. Ils l’ont battu, l’ont jeté à terre, lui ont attaché les mains et l’ont emmené.”
Eviction at the Unicorn living space
Reported on 04.06.2021
Testimony shared by Sudanese exiles living in Calais
A 14-year-old minor was gassed by police during Friday's eviction. The police said "this is France, this is not an Arab country". The police forced him out of his tent, they pushed him. He was brought to Marseille.
Law enforcement officials prevented him from retrieving his personal belongings. He saw a person being pushed and then beaten by the police. Others were gassed, beaten, then slashed and gassed his tent while the person was still inside. He was brought to Marseille. Law enforcement officials seized the tent, not letting him get his things back after he twice asked to be able to get his things back.
One person wanted to locate his medication, but the police prevented him. The police said "you have two minutes to get out".
One person was woken up by the police with a kick on a tent, he said he wanted to stay here. The police beat him with batons, grabbed him by the collar of his T-shirt and dragged him to the bus by force.
Another person was patted down by the police, the police took € 2,000 from his pockets. They wouldn't let him take back his personal belongings. He lost everything because of the eviction. He was taken far, to Nice.
The people returned to Calais two or three days later. They took the train, they were checked several times. They must have taken several trains.
Displaced person living in Grande-Synthe
Reported on 02.06.2021
I live in the informal living space behind the Jesuit farm in Grande-Synthe.
On the night of May 31 to June 1, 2021, I left my home with thirteen other people in a car to try to get to England. We planned to hit the beach to try to cross the Channel. We left around midnight. After driving, our car broke down. When this happened we were at this location:
A white car stopped, and I saw 3 policemen get out of the car. I opened the door and as I got out of the car one of the officers hit me. I didn't have time to talk to him. He did not say anything to me. He immediately hit me with his pistol in my right ear. I fell to the ground and my ear started to bleed. I remember there were three policemen in blue uniforms. The policeman who hit me was tall and white in colour.
The police then called for backup. More policemen arrived, I can't remember exactly how many there were. The police told us to remain seated, without moving. No policeman notified the emergency room when I was badly injured. We sat there for about 30/40 minutes. The other people who were with me in the car were not physically injured, I was the only one who was hit by the policeman.
The police then left with the other inhabitants of the place of life in Grande-Synthe and brought them back. I stayed with my friend. I called the Utopia association. They came to get me and they took me to the Dunkirk hospital center. We arrived at the emergency room at 2:33 am. At the hospital, the medical staff cleaned my wound, then the Utopia team brought me back to the Grande-Synthe jungle. I didn't want to stay in the hospital because I didn't feel comfortable.
I returned to the hospital the next day, June 1st at 1:10 pm. A doctor treated me.
This policeman hit me for no reason, I would like my rights to be recognised because what he did to me is truly inhuman.
Displaced person living in Grande-Synthe
Reported on 13.11.2020
“It's not right, but they don't listen. They say they have this court document, I don't know what it means. They cut down all the tents and they take us away... and some policemen say racist things, they do bad things with us. At the moment, they're sending us to the hotel, but I don't like the hotel.”
Displaced person living in Calais
Reported on 11.11.2020
“We are in a dangerous situation. But we are not dangerous.”
Displaced person living in Calais
Reported on 11.11.2020
“The police don't want to leave us alone in the jungle. If they won't let us into the jungle, where can we go? We are refugees. The police don't respect refugees. We are humans, not animals. They think we are animals because we are refugees. We respect everyone because our parents taught us respect.”
Displaced person living in Calais
Reported on 11.11.2020
“A week ago, my friends and I were next to the playground around 8am, the police came and told us to leave and never come back. Because of this, we had trouble sleeping, we couldn't find a safe and quiet place to sleep.”
(translated from Arabic)