Armed Migrants in France Brawl Over Port Town Calais

The French town of Calais has become the epicenter of the European migrant crisis which has become increasingly ugly as the months and years wear on. The port town has served as a shuttling point for human traffickers purporting to offer migrants safe passage to England, and the boiling pot of ethnic tensions came to a tipping point on February 1st.

Those in proximity witnessed a massive, armed brawl break out between African and Arabic factions, with over 1,000 French police required to eventually cease the madness. According to a report from the Gatestone Institute, the spark igniting the violence exemplifies just how much of a colossal cultural failure the entire migrant diaspora across Europe has been.

‘The mass brawls, fought in at least three different parts of Calais, erupted after a 37-year-old Afghan migrant running a human trafficking operation fired gunshots at a group of Africans who did not have money to pay for his services. Five Africans suffered life-threatening injuries.

Within an hour, hundreds of Eritreans, Ethiopians and Sudanese took to the streets of Calais and attacked any Afghans they could find. More than a thousand police officers using batons and tear gas were deployed to restore order. Two dozen migrants were hospitalized.’ (Gatestone Institute)

The Pas-de-Calais region has become a flash point of migration, especially since a treaty between Britain PM Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron was recently signed, precipitating a 25% increase in migrant arrivals at the port. This, despite official statements that have said Calais is far from a reliable departure point if one wishes to reach England, where the underground crime can be far more lucrative.

‘Insisting that "very few" people successfully sneak across to Britain, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said, "if you want to go to Britain, you shouldn't go to Calais."’ (ABC News)

The border treaty, which ‘promised to accelerate the processing of migrants in the port city and was heralded as “a more humane approach”’, apparently translated in Somali, Afghani, and other African and Arabic tongues to ‘hurry to Calais, we’ve got trains and ships waiting for you’. Clearly, that was and is not the case.

Not only was there no increase in passage to the UK, the town had little in the way of free food, a reality that made the non-natives very restless. Eventually, the restlessness would result in a bloody clash over what has become the local migrant economy.

‘French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb described the level of violence in Calais as "unprecedented." He attributed the fighting to an escalating turf war between Afghan and Kurdish gangs seeking to gain control over human trafficking between Calais and Britain, which many migrants view as "El Dorado" because of its massive underground economy.’ (Gatestone Institute, where you can read more about the extent of the rampant violence that has stricken Calais)

While the ideal end point for most migrants who arrive in Calais is in fact Britain, Calais’ own status as an devolving slum becoming overrun by increasingly organized gangs of migrants is not helping it stave off those whose actions further tarnish the image of EU-mandated migrant policies. Despite French police deploying over 1,000 additional police to the region to prevent another massive melee, it’s unlikely they will be able to contain the increasing numbers of migrants hoping to find passage to England.

After all, this is far from the first time that authorities and media outlets across party lines have openly acknowledged how dire the migrant

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