A Night of Collective Defiance

Despite this, large groups of people continued to move towards the front entrance of the jungle. This continued to happen even when it was plainly obvious that there was no UK bound traffic on the highway.

By midnight, as well as people on the highway, large crowds had gathered underneath the highway bridge, at the entrance to the jungle, and on both ramps leading on and off the motorway. Cries and chants of « No Jungle ! » could be heard. A group of people used stones to beat out a rhythm on the guard rail of the highway off-ramp. Several road signs were beaten off thier posts, starting with the Calais sign. People began to make fires, out of broken tents and discarded items of clothing and anything else that they could get hold of. Many of the bushes and vegetation on the side of the highway were set alight. Some people took construction tools to the fences blocking off parts of the motorway, cutting holes in places. Burning material was pushed together to form barricades. Large groups of people made continual attempts to access the highway and were repeatedly driven back by the heavy use of tear gas. The people taking part in this were from many different countries and parts of the jungle. Many people from the communities filmed and made video on thier phones.

A spokesman from the police trade union said that « almost 300 » gas grenade rounds had been fired. Gas was fired at first at the entrance of the jungle where people were gathering and onto the highway, but as the night continued police fired increasing amounts of gas deep into the jungle.

Although it was rendered less directly effective and powerful by the high wind speed, this did spread it around further. Once again, the Eritrean and Ethiopian section of the camp was heavily hit, being blanketed with gas several times. Gas grenades were also fired into some Afghan sections of the jungle far from any people who were protesting. The level of tear gas used was unprecedented. Hundreds of people were driven out of thier homes and living spaces by this indiscriminate use of chemical weaponary. The media coverage, almost unanimously quoting police trade union spokesmen, speak of 16 injured police officers. Nobody knows how many people who live in the jungle was injured, because nobody is counting. Nobody pays any attention to the fact that CS gas and pepper spray can cause miscarriage in pregnant weapon. Activists from CMS gave out remedies to lessen the affects of the gas, but there was not nearly enough. A heavy toll of respiratory problems, skin and eye irritation and psychological trauma was exacted that night. Once again the police attacked indiscriminately, harming thousands of people, most of whom only wanted to stay in their shelters, all of whom came to Europe seeking sanctuary. In Calais they find the opposite.

Article published first on 10. Nov 2015 in :: calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com.