Protesters have staged a “die-in” at St Pancras station in London over plans to clear an area of the makeshift migrant camp in Calais known as the Jungle.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered at the Eurostar terminal at noon on
Saturday for an emergency protest organised by the London2Calais Convoy,
which organises convoys of essential supplies from London to refugees
in the French port.
Pictures posted on social media showed police blocking the entrance
to the station as protesters attempted to enter. In videos, they could
be heard chanting “Not just for the rich and white, freedom of movement
is a right,” as well as “Say it loud and say it clear, refugees are
welcome here”.
“Just saw a pro-refugee protester being physically dragged into a
police van at St Pancras station,” one Twitter user said, but British
transport police told the Evening Standard no disorder had been reported.
Literally just saw a
pro-refugee protester being physically dragged into a police van at St
Pancras station, what IS this country
On Friday, migrants living in the Jungle said they would resist
efforts to move to new accommodation in converted shipping containers
and insisted they wanted to stay in their tents, despite poor living
conditions.
Efforts are under way to clear an area of the camp next to a motorway
leading to the port, where there have been clashes with police.
A statement posted on London2Calais’s event page
on Facebook, which had nearly 400 people down to attend on Saturday,
said: “The French state is preparing to bulldoze large sections of the
so-called ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais.
“Around 2,000 people have been given three days notice of the planned
eviction, coerced into applying for asylum in France without providing a
real alternative for them to live.
“Many of the people living in the Calais ‘Jungle’, including
unaccompanied minors, have close family in the UK. As activists in
Britain, we believe that while the ‘Jungle’ is a symptom of the crisis
in Calais and Dunkirk, the root cause is British migration and foreign
policy.”
The group added that the UK government’s refusal to take in more
refugees was unacceptable. “We refuse to accept that there is money to
bail out banks and bombing Syria but that there is no money left to help
refugees.”
— James Cropper (@JamesCropper95) January 16, 2016
Police currently blocking the entrance of St.Pancras after refugee protesters attempted to enter #ldn #calaisjungle pic.twitter.com/59AaVT3MWf— Bridget Chapman (@BridgeeCee) January 16, 2016
@JamieBullenES St Pancras Protest pic.twitter.com/qJqhP85aGI— Kerry (@kerrypolka) January 16, 2016
Literally just saw a pro-refugee protester being physically dragged into a police van at St Pancras station, what IS this country
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