Four migrants are in a critical condition after being shot in Calais in what the French government dubbed “unprecedented” scenes of violence among those seeking to reach Britain. The brutal attack came days after Theresa May pledged an extra £44.5 million to beef up border security in Calais and President Emmanuel Macron promised there would be no return to the “jungle” – the notorious migrant camp razed in 2016. Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart slammed charities and activists who “manipulate” migrants. “They are people who live off this. Culturally, they are against the state, institutions. They help neither the migrants nor the population,” she said. Her comments came as the government promised to take over control of food distribution from local aid groups “within two weeks” and conduct the handouts outside the town. The four men, all Eritreans, were shot in the neck, chest, abdomen and spine at a food distribution point. A fifth gunshot victim was not facing life-threatening injuries. In all, some 22 people were hospitalised after three giant brawls across the city on Thursday between hundreds of Afghans and Eritreans camped out in squalid conditions in the hope of sneaking to the UK as stowaways in trucks. Two officers were injured in the clashes. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb (C) meets in Calais, northern France, following a large brawl between a hundred migrants which resulted in several injuries. Credit: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP It was the worst violence in Calais since clashes on July 1, 2017 left 16 people wounded. A year earlier in June, 40 people were injured in clashes in the northern port town. Police were searching for a 37-year-old Afghan, a suspected migrant smuggler, over the attack but witnesses reported seeing several people fire shots, according to local prosecutors. "There were migrants who had no money, the smugglers got angry and fired shots," said one 18-year old Afghan migrant called Daniel. In response, around 100 Eritreans armed with iron rods and sticks then attacked a group of around 20 Afghans at the industrial estate where food was handed out, prosecutors said. Police intervened to protect the Afghans. Visiting the scene, Gérard Collomb, the French interior minister, said the “unprecedented” level of violence was "intolerable for the people of Calais and the migrants". He urged migrants to stay away from Calais, calling the port town a “mirage” and “a wall" into which they were "slamming". Those that camped there were “illegal immigrants” who did not want to claim asylum in official centres, he added. French authorities say four migrants have been shot in the northern port city of Calais in a confrontation that police tried to stop. Credit: AP The clashes came just two weeks after President Emmanuel Macron visited Calais and promised that there would be no return to the “jungle”, the notorious camp that at one point housed almost 10,000 migrants and was bulldozed late in 2016. He also attacked "certain organisations" for spreading "lies" - referring to volunteers and charities accused of encouraging migrants to enter Britain illegally, and of fabricating claims of police brutality against them. The French president later travelled to Britain, where he agreed to preserve the Le Touquet treaty, which authorises British border checks on French soil. In return, Theresa May agreed pay for more fencing, CCTV and detection devices, and to take in more unaccompanied minors. An aid work in Calais told Le Monde that there had been an influx in migrants since the Franco-British summit. "In Paris and elswehere, exiles heard that the President had visited Calais then Theresa May. "So they have arrived en masse here to benefit from family entry and settlement and the passage of accompanied minors, the subject of negotiations (between Britain and France)." On Friday, Mr Collomb insisted: "The message I want to get across is that if you want to go to Britain, it's not here you should come.” He blamed the latest violence on people smugglers who reportedly charge as much as €2,500 (£2,200) to hide migrants in lorries crossing the Channel by ferry or through the Eurotunnel."These networks must be broken up," he said, pledging riot police reinforcements for the area. Migrant wakes up in shelter tent in Calais Credit: PASCAL ROSSIGNOL/REUTERS Despite state claims that Calais’ border is now impregnable, the number of migrants camping there has risen to between 550, according to state figures, and 800, according to local associations. By day they hide from the police in camps in the woods. By night they try to board passing trucks. The police systematically tear down their encampments and tents, and chase them away with tear gas and batons when they try to hold up truckers. “Given this precarious situation, naturally the smugglers don’t help matters,” said Jean-Claude Lenoir, president of the charity, Salam. Mr Macron has pledged to step up the deportation of economic migrants and speed up processing asylum requests in a mixture of “efficiency” and “humanity”. His interior minister warned that half a million migrants had been refused asylum elsewhere in Europe – mainly in Germany – and risked heading for France. "The situation's untenable," he told reporters, noting that France registered a record 100,000 asylum requests last year – a record high. Tens of thousands more were turned away at the border. France is due to table a new immigration and asylum law later this month.
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