Two dead in migrant camp shootings
Two people died and at least seven were wounded in two separate shoot-outs over the weekend at a migrant camp in northern France.
Both shootings took place near the Loon-Plage camp outside Dunkirk, where more than 1,500 people reside, as charities warned that rising migrant numbers and greater police pressure had led to increased tensions.
Gunfire first erupted on Saturday, after authorities rescued almost 100 people trying to cross the Channel to the UK in previous two days.
A 24-year-old Sudanese man was killed and five people were wounded, two seriously, including a woman and child, according to Charlotte Huet, the Dunkirk prosecutor.
Police sources said that all the victims, including those killed, were Sudanese nationals and that the injured child was a baby.
Authorities later arrested two suspects: a 29-year-old who claimed to be from Iraq and a 16-year-old who said he was from Afghanistan.
An investigation has been opened into murder and attempted murder by an organised gang, the public prosecutor's office added.
'Access to healthcare and food is becoming difficult'
A fresh shoot-out erupted on Sunday evening, with the public prosecutor's office on Monday confirming that one man had died and another was in critical condition. The first victim died after being shot in the head, and the wounded man was shot in the temple, according to a police source who added that a third person was wounded in the legs and had fled.
Four 9mm cartridge cases were found at the scene, the source said.
The public prosecutor said she had opened an investigation into murder, attempted murder and possession of weapons. 'At this time, no evidence has been found to link these events to those that occurred on Saturday, 14 June,' Ms Huet said.
Salomé, a member of migrant help group Utopia56 who declined to give her surname, said: 'Tensions have been escalating for several weeks.'
'There are more than 1,000 people in the camps and access to healthcare and food is becoming extremely difficult,' she told AFP. She also pointed to the 'weekly dismantling' of camps in the area.
France and Britain have vowed to crack down on people smugglers who charge steep fees for migrants to board often overloaded and unseaworthy boats.
Some 14,812 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year in more than 260 boats, up nearly 32 per cent on the same period last year. It represents a record high for the first six months of any year since 2018.
French maritime authorities said that on Thursday and Friday alone, they rescued 99 people from dinghies – that were drift or taking in water – that were carrying too many people.
On Friday, UK authorities said that 919 people landed on its shores after crossing the Channel in 14 small boats.
Some 52 people, all travelling on the same boat, had disembarked on the English coast the day before, they said.
Since the start of the year, at least 15 migrants have died at sea while trying to reach England, French authorities said.
The shoot-outs came after the French interior ministry confirmed earlier this month it would aim to intercept boats within 300 metres of the beaches to stop them leaving for the UK loaded with migrants.
Until now, the French have refused to intervene in the water because they claim maritime laws prevent them from taking action that could put lives at sea at risk.
But UK Government sources said ministers overseeing migration policy had given the green light to do so while 'respecting' the 'law of the sea'.
The interventionist strategy is to be outlined in detail at the Franco-British summit, which begins on July 8, when Emmanuel Macron, the French president, will travel to London for a state visit.
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