Introducing HRO
Human Rights Observers (HRO) was founded in 2017 as an inter-associative project and unofficial watchdog.
Its aim is to document and denounce the state violence perpetrated against displaced people at the France-UK border, in Calais and Grande-Synthe.
Who Are We?
Following an increase in accounts of police violence against displaced persons in 2017, HRO has since been working to be present as much as possible during police operations in order to document these practices and to serve as a form of deterrence against them.
In addition to these observations, the people who live in the camps often report being victims of numerous instances of police violence.
Who Are We?
Following an increase in accounts of police violence against displaced persons in 2017, HRO has since been working to be present as much as possible during police operations in order to document these practices and to serve as a form of deterrence against them.
In addition to these observations, the people who live in the camps often report being victims of numerous instances of police violence. In these cases, we are able to provide advice and legal support, often in conjunction with The Legal Shelter.
How Do We Work?
Approach 1
Data Collection
Approach 2
Data Analysis
Approach 3
Advocacy
Approach 4
Legal Work
Observations of evictions are carried out by teams of two people, sometimes more. Teams are present every day in Calais, and from Monday to Friday in Grande-Synthe. To this end, team members receive various trainings.
Our work is broadly divided into four complementary approaches. First, we collect data related to police operations, mainly concerning forced evictions from informal living sites. Secondly, we use this data to analyse the State’s policy of fighting against fixation points* at the border from a human rights perspective. Subsequently, we carry out advocacy work through different means in order to denounce the policy carried out by the French and British authorities. Our jurists also work closely with other associations operating at the France-UK border and lawyers in order to challenge the state’s violence in all its forms (individual acts of police violence, institutionalised theft, evictions, forced sheltering operations, discrimination, and so forth).
*The policy known as ‘fighting against fixation points’ consists of the State’s systematic anticipation of evictions of informal settlements at the border in order to prevent the creation of anything resembling more permanent living spaces. When a living space is created, law enforcement agencies are systematically deployed in order to evict it.
Observations of evictions are carried out by teams of two people, sometimes more. Teams are present every day in Calais, and from Monday to Friday in Grande-Synthe. To this end, team members receive various trainings.
Our work is broadly divided into four complementary approaches. First, we collect data related to police operations, mainly concerning forced evictions from informal living sites. Secondly, we use this data to analyse the State’s policy of fighting against fixation points* at the border from a human rights perspective. Subsequently, we carry out advocacy work through different means in order to denounce the policy carried out by the French and British authorities. Our jurists also work closely with other associations operating at the France-UK border and lawyers in order to challenge the state’s violence in all its forms (individual acts of police violence, institutionalised theft, evictions, forced sheltering operations, discrimination, and so forth).
*The policy known as ‘fighting against fixation points’ consists of the State’s systematic anticipation of evictions of informal settlements at the border in order to prevent the creation of anything resembling more permanent living spaces. When a living space is created, law enforcement agencies are systematically deployed in order to evict it.
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