World French police evacuates migrants from makeshift camp

GRANDE-SYNTHE, France (AP) — French police on Tuesday have evacuated migrants from a makeshift camp near Dunkirk, in northern France, where at least 1,500 people gathered in hopes of making it across the English Channel to Britain.

© Provided by Associated Press A police officer looks on as migrants gather in a camp in Grande-Synthe, Northern France, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. French police were evacuating migrants from a makeshift camp near Dunkirk, in northern France, where at least 1,500 people gathered in hopes of making it across the English Channel to Britain. Migrants, including some families with young children, could be seen packing their few belongings as police were encircling the camp, on the site of a former industrial complex in Grande-Synthe, east of Dunkirk. (AP Photo/Louis Witter)

Migrants, including some families with young children, could be seen packing their few belongings as police were encircling the camp early Tuesday morning, on the site of a former industrial complex in Grande-Synthe, east of Dunkirk. Several buses were lined up near the camp.

EXPLAINER: What's behind the crisis at Belarus-Poland border

Thousands of migrants have flocked to Belarus' border with Poland, hoping to get to Western Europe, and many of them are now stranded at the frontier, setting up makeshift camps as Polish security forces watch them from behind a razor-wire fence and prevent them from entering the country. A look at what led to the standoff: WHAT IS BEHIND THE CRISIS? Belarus was rocked by months of massive protests following the August 2020 election that gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. The opposition and the West rejected the result as a sham.

© Provided by Associated Press Police forces line up as migrants are evacuated from a camp in Grande-Synthe, Northern France, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. French police were evacuating migrants from a makeshift camp near Dunkirk, in northern France, where at least 1,500 people gathered in hopes of making it across the English Channel to Britain. Migrants, including some families with young children, could be seen packing their few belongings as police were encircling the camp, on the site of a former industrial complex in Grande-Synthe, east of Dunkirk. (AP Photo/Louis Witter)

Government spokesman Gabriel Attal, speaking on France Inter radio, said “when we are dismantling a migrant camp, that's above all to put people into shelters, especially as winter comes."

Poland Closes Border Checkpoint as Tensions With Belarus Escalate Over Migration Policies

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has encouraged migrants to illegally enter bordering European Union nations. For months, thousands of migrants have attempted to illegally enter Poland, many getting stuck in a swampy forested area and pushed back and forth by Polish and Belarusian forces.According to Major Katarzyna Zdanowicz from the region's border guards, about 3,000-4,000 migrants were along the border, including 800 in the vicinity of a large makeshift camp.U.N.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and British Home Secretary Priti Patel said they had a phone call on Monday evening about the issue of small boats used by migrants to try to cross the Channel.

© Provided by Associated Press Police forces stand behind tents as migrants are evacuated from a camp in Grande-Synthe, Northern France, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. French police were evacuating migrants from a makeshift camp near Dunkirk, in northern France, where at least 1,500 people gathered in hopes of making it across the English Channel to Britain. Migrants, including some families with young children, could be seen packing their few belongings as police were encircling the camp, on the site of a former industrial complex in Grande-Synthe, east of Dunkirk.(AP Photo/Louis Witter)

Patel tweeted that “we discussed a range of additional steps to tackle the problem and reiterated the importance of working together to make this deadly route unviable.”

Poland says Belarus is taking away migrants at border camp

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish government official said Wednesday that migrants who have spent days in a makeshift camp on the Belarusian side of Poland's eastern border are being taken away by bus by Belarusian officials. Since Nov. 8 a large group of people from the Middle East has been stuck at a border crossing with Poland, hoping to enter Europe. Most are fleeing conflict or hopelessness at home and aim to reach Germany or other western European countries. © Provided by Associated Press Migrants settle for the night in the logistics center in the checkpoint "Kuznitsa" at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021.

“We are going to continue our operational cooperation and step up our common action against smugglers' networks,” Darmanin tweeted.

Darmanin also said that police dismantled a network of smugglers in the Dunkirk region, leading to 13 people being detained. According to Darmanin, 1,308 people suspected of being smugglers have been arrested since the beginning of the year.

Aid group Utopia 56 said several evacuations of camps in the region have been organized in the past month with no adapted response to take care of migrants. The group stressed that the state organized no food distribution and provided no toilet and shower facilities in the camps.

Local authorities have warned of dire sanitary conditions and overcrowding in the area, risks associated with the fast approaching winter and deepening tensions between migrants and traffickers that often turn violent.

Yann Manzi, founder of Utopia 56, said those clustered in Grande Synthe are primarily Iraqi Kurds propelled via trafficking networks. Most are trying to cross the English Channel in small inflatable boats, because police have made it harder to sneak onto trucks and ferries.

Belarus Border Camp Emptied, Hundreds of Migrants Flown Back to Iraq

Belarusian authorities said that as many as 7,000 migrants remain in the country after more than a week of tensions between it, the migrants and Poland.Belarusian media reported that no more migrants were seen in the makeshift camps. The migrants were either put on flights back to their home countries or allegedly placed in a heated warehouse to protect them from the cold weather.

© Provided by Associated Press Migration France Britain

With its ports and tunnel to cross the English Channel, northern France has always been a magnet for people seeking to cross to Britain, fueled by traffickers’ promises of a better life there. The crossings are a source of friction between the U.K. and France, with British officials saying France should do more to stop boats leaving. France, meanwhile, says Britain should do more to help French authorities manage the migrants and stop traffickers.

© Provided by Associated Press Migrants warm by a fire in a camp in Grande-Synthe, Northern France, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. French police were evacuating migrants from a makeshift camp near Dunkirk, in northern France, where at least 1,500 people gathered in hopes of making it across the English Channel to Britain. Migrants, including some families with young children, could be seen packing their few belongings as police were encircling the camp, on the site of a former industrial complex in Grande-Synthe, east of Dunkirk. (AP Photo/Louis Witter)

More than 23,000 people have reached the U.K. in small boats across the English Channel this year, including 1,185 on Thursday, a record for a single day. In addition, thousands more were rescued at sea by French maritime authorities.

Kurds, others converge in French camp, seeking to reach UK

PARIS (AP) — At least 1,500 migrants are living in tents on a muddy lot in northern France as growing numbers of people fleeing Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries seek to traverse the English Channel and reach the U.K., according to aid workers. In Grande-Synthe, a town east of the port city of Calais, the migrants - including some families with young children - have converged on the site of a former industrial complex. Local authorities have warned of dire sanitary conditions and overcrowding in the area, risks associated with the fast approaching winter and deepening tensions between migrants and traffickers that often turn violent.