Tag Archives: Paris

French President Announces that Country will Shut Down “Jungle” Migrant Camp

On 26 September, French President Francois Hollande stated that France will completely shut down “the Jungle” migrant camp in Calais and called on London to help deal with the plight of thousands of people whose dream is ultimately to get to Britain.

Speaking during a visit to the northern port city, where as many as 10,000 migrants from war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria live in squalor, President Hollande stated that “the situation is unacceptable and everyone here knows it,” adding, “we must dismantle the camp completely and definitively.”   While France is planning to relocate the migrants in small groups across the country, right-wing opponents of the Socialist leader are raising the heat ahead of next year’s election, accusing the French leader of mismanaging a problem that is ultimately a British one.

While the migrants in Calais want to enter Britain, the UK government is arguing that migrants seeking asylum need to do so under European Union (EU) law in the country where they enter. Immigration was one of the main drivers of Britain’s vote in June to leave the EU, and it is likely that the issue will be a major factor in France’s presidential election next year. If France stopped trying to prevent migrants from entering Britain, Britain would ultimately find itself obliged to deal with the matter when asylum-seekers land on its shores a short distance by ferry or subsea train from France’s Calais coast. President Hollande reminded Britain of this, stating that he expects London to fully honour agreements on managing the flow of migrants. London and Paris have struck agreements on issues such as the recently begun construction of a giant wall on the approach road to Calais port in an attempt to try to stop migrants who attempt daily to board cargo trucks that are bound for Britain.

In response to Monday’s comments by the French leader, a British government spokesman stated that “what happens in the Jungle is ultimately a matter for the French authorities, what they choose to do with it.” The spokesman further disclosed that “our position is very clear: we remain committed to protecting the shared border that we have in Calais,” adding, ‘the work that we do with France to maintain the security of that border goes on and will go on, irrespective of what happens to the Jungle camp.”

Paris to Open New Refugee Camp Next Month

Paris, France is to open its first refugee camp in October in response to asylum seekers living in the city’s streets.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo has disclosed that a camp to house 400 men would be opened at a site in the north of the city in mid-October while a camp for women and children, in the suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine, will follow by the end of the year. Makeshift camps have appeared in public areas and streets in Paris, before being cleared by police. Hundreds of people dispersed in the city hours before the latest announcement. The two camps will cost an estimated 6.5 million euros (US $7.3 million; £5.4 million) and will provide shelter and medical care for asylum seekers for five to ten days.

Meanwhile investigators have disclosed that a planned centre for 200 asylum seekers in Essonne, which is located 30 km (20 miles) southwest of Paris, was set on fire overnight. The planned centre in Essonne, at Forges-les-Bains, was due to take in ninety people in October. French media have reported that a meeting on 5 September to discuss it was attended by protesters who dispersed late in the evening. The fire was reported to the authorities at about 2:30 local time (00:30 GMT). French police are expected to launch an investigation into the case of the fire.

Calls have also been mounting to close th emigrant camp in Calais, in northern France, near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel. Earlier in the week, protesters causes severe disruption as they blocked roads near the port town, demanding the closure of the “Jungle” camp. Hundreds formed a human chain, joined by farmers and local businesspeople. Calais mayor Natacha Bouchat, who was amongst the protesters, stated that things were “becoming unbearable and something needs to be done.” About 7,000 migrants now live in the “Jungle,” with many attempting to reach Britain in lorries crossing the Channel. In August, the authorities in France and the United Kingdom agreed to increase security and humanitarian aid in Calais and to further secure the Channel Tunnel.

French Prime Minister: France Foiling Terror Plots ‘Daily’

The French Prime Minister has disclosed that the country’s security services are foiling terror plots and dismantling militant networks “every day.”

Speaking to French media, Prime Minister Manuel Valls stated, “today the threat is at a maximum, and we are a target,” adding, “every day intelligence services, police, foil attacks, dismantle networks, track terrorists. There are about 15,000 people in France who are monitored, because these people are in the process of radicalization.” The Prime Minister warned that there will be further attacks.   Authorities had previously indicated that about 10,000 were identified as high-risk.

The report comes in the wake of two high-profile arrests. On 10 September, a boy of 15 as arrested at his home in Paris on suspicion of planning an attack over the weekend. Investigators have reported that he had been under surveillance since April and had been in touch with a French member of the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, Rachid Kassim. Meanwhile on 4 September, a car loaded with gas cylinders was found near Notre Dame cathedral and jerry cans of diesel, leading to the discovery of a plot to attack a Paris railway station under the direction of IS. Seven people, including four women, have since been arrested. Prosecutors have since charged one of the women, Ornella G (29), with alleged involvement in a terrorist attack and attempted murder. On Friday, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins disclosed that Ornella G’s fingerprints had been found inside the car. She was known to intelligence agents as someone who was considering going to Syria. She was arrested on Tuesday in southern France along with her boyfriend, who has since been released. The three other women were questioned by police and are alleged to have been planning other “imminent and violent” attacks. One of the women stabbed a police officer during her arrest. It has been reported that French Islamist militant Kassim also guided one of the women. French newspaper Le Monde has reported that Kassim is currently in Syria and has used Telegram, the messaging service, to call for more attacks in France. Sources have disclosed that Kassim, 29, inspired two men who carried out an attack in July in a French church during which they slit the throat of the elderly priest.

While France has been under a state of emergency since IS attacks on Paris in November 2015, which killed 130 people, a recent commission of inquiry found that the state of emergency was only having a “limited impact” on improving security. The commission has also questioned the deployment of between 6,000 and 7,000 soldiers to protect schools, synagogues, department stores and other sensitive sites.

Security is becoming a central issue in the run-up to next year’s presidential election. Mr Valls however has stated that proposals by former French President Nicholas Sarkozy, to set up special courts and detention centres are not the answer. In August, Mr Sarkozy announced that he would run again for the presidency, stating, “every Frenchman suspected of being linked to terrorism, because he regularly consults a jihadist website, or his behaviour shows signs of radicalisations or because is in close contact with radicalized people, must be preventively placed in a detention centre.”

Call for National Drive to Promote Mainstream Islam in France

Dozens of prominent French Muslims and Prime Minister Manuel Valls have called for a national drive to promote mainstream Islam in France and to combat the radicalization of young Muslims.

Forty-one prominent Muslims, along with Mr Valls, issued separate appeals in the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) newspaper. The move comes nearly a week after the murder of a priest by Islamist extremists, which shocked the country. Prominent Muslims and Mr Valls have stated that a French Muslim foundation, which was set up in 2005, must be relaunched. In his appeal in JDD, Mr Valls, a Socialist, stated that the French state must avoid “any paternalism” towards Islam, but “there is an urgent need to help Islam in France to rid itself of those who are undermining it from the inside,” adding, “to do that, we have a duty to build a real pact with Islam in France, and give the foundation a central role.” While he did not provide details of what the foundation’s role would be, or how it would interact with mosques, he warned that “if Islam doesn’t help the Republic to fight those who challenge public freedoms, it will get harder for the Republic to guarantee this freedom of worship.” Separately, 41 prominent French Muslims issued a joint statement in JDD, stating, “we must speak up now because Islam has become a public issue and the current situation is intolerable.” Amongst the signatories were former ministerial advisers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, scientists and academics. They deplored the spate of attacks by jihadists in France, including those in Paris last year and most recently the attack in Nice and the murder of an elderly priest in a church in a suburb of Rouen. They further stated, “we Muslims were silent before because we understood that in France religion is a private matter,” a reference to the French state’s strict secular policy.” They added that “a Foundation for Islam in France was set up more than 10 years ago and now it is time to reactivate it…It has never worked properly…but now it should be empowered to collect donations.” They also called for “a cultural battle against radical Islamism among the youth,” stating that it should include transparent funding of mosques, proper training and salaries for imams and theological work. In 2004, the French government stated that the country’s imams must all learn French and widen their education, arguing that a majority of them were from outside France.

Mr Valls’s stance however has drawn some criticism. Two politicians in the right-wing opposition party The Republicans – Eric Ciotti and Christian Estrosi, have accused Mr Valls of hypocrisy for failing to prevent the opening of a Saudi-funded mosque in Nice. There is widespread concern in Europe about the influence of Saudi Arabia’s ultra-conservative Wahhabi version of Islam.

In recent weeks, the French government has been severely criticized by many over its handling of the terrorist threat. On 18 July, Mr Valls was booed during a commemoration ceremony in Nice for the 84 people who were killed by a lorry, which ploughed into a holiday crowd on the city’s beachfront promenade. The Tunisian driver is believed to have been inspired by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group. In the wake of last week’s murder of a priest in a church, two men have been arrested. Farid K, 30, a cousin of attacker Abdel Malik Petitjean, was arrested on suspicion of “terrorist association,” while the other man, Jean-Philippe Steven J, 20, was placed under formal investigation for allegedly attempting to travel to Syria in June with Petitjean. Petitjean and accomplice Adel Kermiche, both 19, were shot dead by police.

IS Calls For Attacks In Russia

In a nine-minute video posted on YouTube on Sunday, the so-called Islamic State (IS) group has called on its members to carry out jihad in Russia.

The video, which has subtitles, depicted footage of armed men attacking armoured vehicles and tens and collecting arms in the desert. One of the subtitles read, “breaking into a barrack of the Rejectionist military on the international road south Akashat.” In the last minutes of the video, a masked men driving a car in the desert yells “Listen Putin, we will come to Russia and we will kill you at your homes…Oh Brothers, carry out jihad and kill and fight them.”

While it was not immediately possible to independently verify the video, the link to the footage was published on a Telegram messaging account used by the militant group. Furthermore, while it was not immediately clear why Russia would be a target, the country, along with the United States, are talking about boosting military and intelligence cooperation against both IS and al-Qaeda in Syria. IS has called on its supporters to take action with any available weapons targeting countries it has been fighting.

Over the past several weeks, there has been a string of deadly attacks that have been claimed by IS. Last week, assailants loyal to IS forced an elderly Catholic priest in France to his knees before slitting his throat. Since the mass killing in Nice, southern France on 14 July, there have been four incidents that have occurred in Germany, including the most recent suicide bombing that occurred at a concern in Ansbach.