Court says government should end inhuman treatment of migrants, despite tough stance by President Macron

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The French government has said it will provide water and sanitation to refugees and migrants in Calais and open two reception centres away from the port, hours after a court ordered it to end the inhuman treatment of migrants.

France’s highest administrative court ruled that President Emmanuel Macron’s government and the Calais region must provide hundreds of refugees with drinking water, showers and toilets.

The ruling came almost a year after the makeshift refugee camp in Calais, home to thousands of migrants trying to get to the UK, was bulldozed by French authorities.

It was a setback for the local Calais authorities who had been taking a hard line with any new sign of settlements, discouraging charities from providing tents or food.

Calais is still proving attractive to migrants searching a better life in the UK, although the numbers are significantly lower than last October and November when the camp was cleared.

Sleeping in the undergrowth, the children still hoping to get to the UK Read more

France’s interior minister, Gérard Collomb, said there were about 350-400 refugees and migrants around Calais compared with 10,000 at the peak last year.

“We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past but we also want to handle the problems in Calais,” Collomb said, indicating a determination to avoid providing facilities that could draw migrants to the town, making it once more a hub for those trying to reach Britain.

A local court said this year that the authorities must provide access to water, prompting an appeal by the interior ministry and Calais commune. Rejecting that appeal, the Conseil d’État ruled that the treatment of migrants was inhuman.

“The Conseil d’État considers that these living conditions reveal a failure by the public authorities that has exposed these people to inhuman or degrading treatment,” the court said in a statement.

“These shortcomings are a serious and unlawful infringement on a fundamental freedom.”

On Monday the court said the lower court was within its rights to order the provision of toilets, drinking water and showers.

While Macron has called for migrants to be treated with dignity, his own government has taken a tough stance, refusing to open a new migrant reception centre in Calais, saying it would act as a magnet for other migrants.

Last week, Human Rights Watch pressed France to end what it described as recurrent police violence against refugees and migrants in Calais, where hundreds have returned despite the demolition of the sprawling camp.

The European Union is struggling to find a coherent answer to a migration crisis that has tested cooperation between member states. Macron has instructed his government to speed up France’s asylum process.