RT explores Paris’s migrant tent underworld

Published time: May 08, 2015 00:54
Edited time: May 08, 2015 11:34 Migrants gather near tents as they live in a make-shift camp under a metro bridge in Paris, France (Reuters / Benoit Tessier)

An atmosphere of fear and aggression reined among the vulnerable illegal migrants, the majority from Africa, sleeping rough on the streets and under the bridges of Paris, RT found while exploring the city’s make-shift immigrant camps.

Under the Charles de Gaulle Bridge in central Paris, there are about 500 illegal immigrants, mostly from Africa, sleeping on the streets or in two camps sandwiched between Austerlitz and Gare du Nord railway stations.

Some of them have been camping out for days, weeks or even months. Most of them refused to speak to RT’s correspondent Anastasia Churkina due to their vulnerably and illegal status, but a few did.

“I come from problem, you know, Darfur?” said one man in broken English.

“I don’t have a home, do you know what that’s like?” said another in French.

Many of the refugees were trafficked from countries like Libya and had to pay thousands of euros to criminal gangs to get them to Paris.

READ MORE: French illegal immigrant problem sees minister plead for UK police support

But for many, the French capital is only a transit stop as a lot of them hope to try and make it to the UK, either via Eurostar or by crossing the channel on a ferry.

Calais, a channel port in the north of France and the closest crossing point to the UK, has become home to 2,500 migrants.

The situation is a headache for the local authorities and locals in Calais. The problems were highlighted last August by rioting between gangs of migrants.

Britain and France blame each other for the problem. France says the UK is holding Calais hostage and are washing their hands of the problem, while Britain says France has created the problems in Calais and should sort them out itself.

The UK also believes it can’t accommodate any more immigrants, but France argues that the unemployment rate in the UK is half that in France and migrants want to go there because they have a better chance of finding work.

READ MORE: ‘Willing to die’: 30,000 migrants risk lives attempting to enter UK

Pierre Schweitzer, a political analyst and author, told RT that more effort needs to be put into preventing migrants from leaving their homes in the first place.

“Half the problem of illegal immigration comes from Libya at the moment, so we should wonder about our own responsibility in this matter,” he said.

One of the reasons so many migrants from Africa and the Middle East are coming to Europe is the result of Europe’s own actions. By supporting the US in interventionist wars, European countries contributed to the destabilization of places such as Libya and Iraq.

A report by the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center released Wednesday found that 11 million people, many of them from Africa and the Middle East, were forced to move within their own countries because of war and conflict in 2014.

The UN said last year that, including Internally Displaced People, there are now 50 million people living as refugees globally, the highest number since World War II.

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Libya against EU migrant plan, ‘won’t accept any boots on the ground’ – country’s UN envoy

Illegal migrants who attempted to sail to Europe, sit in a boat carrying them back to Libya, after their boat was intercepted at sea by the Libyan coast guard, at Khoms, Libya May 6, 2015. (Reuters/Aymen Elsahli)

EU has failed to get a green light from Libya’s government about its migrant crisis plan, the nation’s envoy to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told AP. Libya is against the destruction of illegal migrant boats and the union’s ground troops on its territory.

"They never asked anything of us. Why should we send them this letter?

" Dabbashi asked, referring to Libya’s approval to the request for EU ground forces to get involved.

“We will not accept any boots on the ground,

” he added.

Libya has been largely lawless since the toppling of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi four years ago, with which the EU and US assisted the opposition forces. Since then a wave of migrants fleeing the internal conflict has increased and the EU has been facing a growing wave of criticism for not doing enough to save those fleeing to Europe.

The problem of illegal migration has been a growing concern in Europe, as more and more people are choosing the dangerous path of crossing the Mediterranean to escape conflict in the Middle East. This year alone, around 1,800 migrants have been killed while trying to cross the Mediterranean, the UN refugee agency said. About 51,000 succeeded in coming to Europe.

EU officials have been putting together a draft Security Council resolution, which would authorize EU forces to seize suspected boats believed to be used for smuggling illegal migrants. The EU wants the have the authority to confiscate the boats in international and Libya’s territorial waters as well as the country’s coast.

However, before any of that can happen, the western-backed Libyan government must send a request, especially if the EU troops are to be involved.

READ MORE: 6,800 migrants recovered from Mediterranean in 48 hours

Dabbashi clarified on Friday that Libya is against the destruction of the migrant smuggling boats because it would be too easy to mistake an illegal boat with other kinds of vessels.

In terms of sending more boats near Libya to improve migrants rescue operations, Dabbashi said that it is a "completely stupid decision

" since it would only inspire more migrants to make their way down to the Libyan coast.

The best solution to this problem is to supply the "legitimate" government with weapons, the UN envoy argued. Libya’s government is fighting with rival groups led by Islamist-allied militias, who have gained control of the capital, Tripoli.

“Once the government retakes the capital, Tripoli, and controls the whole western area of Libya, I think it would be very easy to stop this flow of illegal immigrants to Europe because we know everyone who is involved in this business

,” he said.

Russia has also spoken out against the EU plan to destroy the illegal boats carrying migrants, stating the move goes “too far

.”

“We think that we should stay within the scope of what we have, roughly what we have for the piracy situation off the coast of Somalia. We have a good precedent, so why not use it,

” Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told reporters on Thursday.

Physically destroying the boats could lead to legal problems, Churkin added. “For instance, if you lease a boat to somebody and then that somebody is using it to transport migrants illegally and then the boat is destroyed, what about the owner of the boat?

” he said.

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