Five migrants were shot during violent clashes between Afghans and Eritreans in the French city of Calais on Thursday night. Four of them are in critical condition, according to AFP. Around 22 people were hospitalised after the brawl, including migrants from the African country between the ages of 16 and 18.
Two police officers were also injured in the clashes. Security was heightened to protect the Afghans, who were in great minority during the clashes.
Two clashes broke out in the northern port city. One, which involved 100 Eritreans, began after an Afghan migrant opened fire while waiting in a queue for food handouts. The second broke out about 5 km away between 20 Afghans and more than a hundred Eritreans armed with iron rods and sticks. The local prosecutor’s office said 13 people were wounded because of “blows from iron bars”.
“We have reached an escalation of violence that has become unbearable for both those from Calais and migrants,” said Interior Minister of France Gerard Collomb, who visited one of the locations of the clashes. “This is a level of violence never seen before.”
Migrants head to Calais hoping to cross the English Channel to Britain. In similar clashes in June 2016, 40 people were injured, and in July 2017, 16 people were injured in violence.
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