CALAIS, France: Mustafa Suleiman, 21, is resolute in his determination to reach Britain and won’t be deterred from London’s threats to intercept boats illegally carrying migrants in the Channel and send them back to France.
Suleiman, who fled Sudan’s Darfur region in 2019, has tried to make the perilous journey through some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes twice in the past year. Both times, he was thwarted by French police before making it off the beach.
“We will try and try until the last day of our life,” Suleiman told Reuters in a camp on wasteland on the edge of Calais.
While French police are preventing more crossings than in previous years, they have only partially stemmed the flow. The migrants are too numerous, the shore too long and the smugglers too good at eluding security.
Britain is irritated by the numbers making it across and accuse France of not doing enough to secure its borders.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered Britain’s divorce from the European Union on a promise to ‘take back control’ of borders and this week his conservative government approved plans to turn around migrant dinghies mid-Channel.
France said it deserved better than such ‘posturing’. Charities said the plans could violate maritime laws.
Suleiman said that he would be ready to throw himself into the open seas if ever a British patrol ship stood between him and UK shores.
“(Britain) is my only solution,” he said in faltering English.
Opposite the main hospital in Calais, a stench of urine hung in the air and soiled tissue papers littered the narrow sandy paths that twisted through the scrubland. The more fortunate migrants had tents, others rested in the open on plastic sheets.
Every day, aid groups hand out meals and the local authorities rig up water taps for the hundreds of migrants who gather at the site.
Sixteen-year-old Afghan Ali Husseini only arrived in this northern port town a day earlier after a journey of several weeks from his home province of Uruzgan.
Husseini said he fled on foot and by car across the Iranian frontier as the Taliban swept across his homeland. His parents had urged him to leave, but could not afford for him to take his two younger siblings.
“I am trying to find a new country, a new life without war,” the teenager said. “Britain is my final destination. It is a good country. I can finish my education and be safe.”
Husseini had already heard tales of the dangerous crossing in overloaded inflatable dinghies.
“We have no choice. I have to do it,” he said.
Some British lawmakers have said the British turn-around tactics would never be used because it would put migrants at risk of drowning.
The numbers trying to reach Britain in small boats — about 13,000 so far in 2021 — are tiny compared with migrant flows into countries such as Lebanon and Turkey, which host millions of refugees. The International Organization for Migration says 40,830 migrants have landed by sea in Italy this year as of Sept. 2, and nearly 21,000 in Spain.
The issue has become a clarion call for politicians from Johnson’s party. But for many migrants, Britain’s stance hurts.
“It’s inhumane,” said a second Sudanese man who gave his name as Adam A. “They want to push us into the water.”
‘We have no choice’: Migrants undeterred by UK threat to send boats back to France
https://arab.news/vt9mn
‘We have no choice’: Migrants undeterred by UK threat to send boats back to France
- While French police are preventing more crossings than in previous years, they have only partially stemmed the flow
- Britain is irritated by the numbers making it across and accuse France of not doing enough to secure its borders
Switzerland mourns Crans-Montana fire tragedy
- All of Switzerland will mark a national day of mourning Friday for the dozens of mostly teenagers killed when fire ravaged a ski resort bar crammed with New Year revellers
CRANS MONTANA: All of Switzerland will mark a national day of mourning Friday for the dozens of mostly teenagers killed when fire ravaged a ski resort bar crammed with New Year revellers.
Just over a week after the tragedy at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, which left 40 dead and 116 injured, the wealthy Alpine nation will come to a standstill for a minute of silence at 2:00 p.m. (1300 GMT).
A chorus of church bells will then ring throughout the country.
The moment of silence will stand as a “testament to the shared grief felt by the entire nation with all the families and friends directly affected,” the Swiss government said in a statement.
At the same time, a memorial ceremony for the victims will be held in Martigny, a town about 50 kilometers (31 miles) down the valley from Crans-Montana, which had been rendered all but inaccessible by a large snowstorm.
Inhabitants of the plush ski resort town will meanwhile be able to watch the ceremony as it is livestreamed to large screens, including at the congress center that for days after the tragedy accommodated families seeking news of missing loved ones.
Among ‘worst tragedies’
A memorial that has sprung up in front of the bar, loaded with flowers, candles and messages of grief and support, was covered in an igloo-like tarp Thursday to protect it from the heavy snowfall.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin, who has declared the fire “one of the worst tragedies that our country has experienced,” will be joined for the ceremony by his French and Italian counterparts, whose countries lost nine and six nationals respectively in the fire.
Top officials from Belgium, Luxembourg, Serbia and the European Union were also due to participate in the ceremony.
Most of those impacted by the inferno at Le Constellation were Swiss, but a total of 19 nationalities were among the fatalities and the wounded.
Half of those killed in the blaze were under 18, including some as young as 14.
Of those injured, 83 remain in hospital, with the most severely burned airlifted to specialist centers across Switzerland and abroad.
Prosecutors believe the blaze started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to sound insulation foam on the ceiling in the bar’s basement section.
Experts have suggested that what appeared to be highly flammable foam may have caused a so-called flashover — a near-simultaneous ignition of everything in an enclosed space, trapping many of the young patrons.
Video footage which has emerged from the tragedy shows young people desperately trying to flee the scene, some breaking windows to try to force their way out.
On Tuesday, municipal authorities acknowledged that no fire safety inspections had been conducted at Le Constellation since 2019, prompting outrage.
‘Staggering’
The investigation underway will seek to shed light on the responsibilities of the authorities, but also of bar owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti.
The French couple, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, have been called in for questioning on Friday, sources close to the investigation told AFP.
The pair, who have not been detained, said in a statement Tuesday that they were “devastated and overwhelmed with grief,” and pledged their “full cooperation” with investigators.
They will need to answer numerous questions about why so many minors were in the bar, and whether fire safety standards were adhered to.
There has been much focus on the soundproofing foam, which, according to photos taken by the owners, had been added during renovations in 2015.
A video filmed by a member of the public, screened Monday by Swiss broadcaster RTS, showed that the danger was known years ago.
“Watch out for the foam!,” a bar employee said during 2019 New Year’s Eve celebrations, as champagne bottles with sparklers were brought out.
“This video is staggering,” Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing several affected families, told AFP, saying it showed “there was an awareness of this risk — and that possibly this risk was accepted.”
