MSF denounces the “normalisation of violence” in the treatment of migrant minors in Calais, France

12 Jul. () –

The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Friday denounced the “normalisation of violence” in the treatment of unaccompanied migrant minors in the French city of Calais, where numerous refugees arrive in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach British soil.

The organisation, which has warned that many of them are subjected to ill-treatment, has warned that the French authorities are intervening on land and sea to prevent them from embarking in an attempt to cross the Channel. In this regard, it has pointed out in a statement that the migrants “paint a picture of violence, lack of assistance and returns.”

MSF reports that more than a third of the testimonies of young people treated refer to “ill-treatment and violence” by the French police. According to the young people interviewed, violence occurs mainly during dismantling operations and attempts to cross the English Channel by boat or truck.

In most of these cases, the officers use violence by means of “kicking, punching, hitting with batons and using tear gas at eye level,” as the migrants claim. “These abuses often occur when volunteers and associations are not present to help migrants, asylum seekers and refugees,” the NGO said.

“Sometimes they check that there are no cameras and take us to places out of sight to beat us. The last time it happened to me, I was with a friend. The police took us to a van and beat us with batons. They beat me so much that I bled,” says Ahmed, a 15-year-old Sudanese boy who was admitted to the MSF centre in February.

“Young people who migrate alone experience exile and violence at a very particular moment in their development: adolescence. Exile also means experiencing or witnessing traumatic events and violence that often goes unpunished. It becomes difficult and dangerous to trust others,” explains Chloé Hannebouw, MSF psychologist in Calais.

VIOLENCE AND TRAUMA

Since the reopening of the MSF project in Calais in April last year, 82 percent of people seen in medical consultations by the MSF medical team have reported having suffered ill-treatment, torture, inhuman and degrading acts, particularly in Libya, Tunisia or on the Balkan route.

“During the interviews, the young people recounted terrible experiences of violence, detention and sometimes torture. Some young people also tended to compare the violence they suffered in Libya with the difficult living conditions in Calais. This comparison often led them to downplay the harshness of their current situation compared to the extreme violence experienced there,” said Hannebouw.

Since the start of operations, the MSF psychologist has consulted 152 minors (unaccompanied or accompanied by their families). The most frequent symptoms include anxiety, nightmares, insomnia and a feeling of helplessness or inability to see and think about the future. Some also mention suicidal impulses, especially when they have experienced particularly traumatic or extremely violent experiences.

“This repeated physical and psychological violence illustrates the human cost that France and the United Kingdom are prepared to pay to secure their common border. A general normalisation of violence has taken hold across Europe. Calais is just one of many laboratories of the deterrence policies applied by the European Union,” said Feyrouz Lajili, MSF project coordinator in Calais.

MSF has called on the French authorities to offer protection to unaccompanied minors in transit across the Franco-British border and to “put an end to the dissuasive measures” implemented with the support of the United Kingdom and which endanger people on the move.