French National Police water cannon waiting in front of the Grand Palais, Champs-Élysées, in case of rioting following Nicolas Sarkozy's election
Immigrants throw rocks at unwelcome guests in the port
Posted on 09/22/2007 8:11:52 AM PDT by Stoat
Riot police are patrolling French ports to combat the increasing violence caused by illegal immigrants bound for Britain.
The authorities in Calais, Cherbourg and Dunkirk have complained they are increasingly powerless to cope with the growing numbers congregating in makeshift camps.
Scroll down for more ...
Immigrants throw rocks at unwelcome guests in the port
Bernard Cazeneuve, Calais's mayor, said these camps "generate violence" and "create a situation which we are not able to control".
He called for proper facilities to be provided for migrants, raising the spectre of a second Sangatte.
The notorious Red Cross centre, close to the entrance of the Channel Tunnel near Calais, attracted thousands of immigrants before it was closed in 2002.
However, the French president has pledged that another Sangatte will not be built.
Instead, Nicolas Sarkozy has reacted to the refugee problem with increasingly heavy-handed policing.
On Thursday, the CRS, elite police more usually associated with quelling urban disturbances, arrived in Normandy and began 24-hour patrols.
"We are here because local forces are having difficulty coping with the growing menace caused by illegal immigrants," said a spokesman.
Scroll down for more ...
A makeshift camp in Cherbourg
In Cherbourg, up to 160 wouldbe asylum seekers try to jump on to lorries heading for Britain every night, according to the ferry port's management.
Serge Henry, the port director, said urgent action is needed. "The problems never end and, if anything, are getting worse."
Police guarding the area are stretched to the limit, but almost 300 a week are arrested.
Officers said troublemakers are arrested on a regular basis.
But as immigrants have no fixed abode, or official papers, dealing with them is difficult.
"In many cases, there is absolutely nothing we can do," said a police spokesman.
"They do not want to claim asylum here. All they want to do is get to Britain.
"It is a major problem for both countries."
Mr Sarkozy has pledged to deport 25,000 illegal immigrants this year.
The mayors urged him to stop French ports becoming a base from which to get into Britain.
In response to their calls, immigration minister Brice Hortefeux ordered the CRS to the northern ports.
The mayors said the immigrants are often from war-torn countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, but there are also economic immigrants attracted to Britain by social security benefits.
Others hope to work in Britain's burgeoning black economy, they said.
Mr Hortefeux told the National Assembly in Paris: "We have to reinforce the police presence."
One of the largest makeshift camps in Cherbourg is on a stretch of industrial wasteland overlooking the harbour.
One immigrant, claiming to be a 24-year-old Iraqi, said: "All we want to do is get to Britain.
"The police attack us and treat us badly.
"We have no food or accommodation or toilets, so it is little surprise that some of us get into trouble.
"When this trouble happens it makes us even more determined to get to Britain."
A spokesman for the French homelessness charity Terre d'Asile said: "It appears that the strategy is to beat the illegal immigrants out of France so that they become someone else's problem.
"Any refugee involved in any kind of trouble is normally hauled before a judge and deported. The rest are left to plot their journeys across the sea.
"The situation is getting completely out of hand, and countries like Britain are finding themselves at the centre of all the problems."
French National Police water cannon waiting in front of the Grand Palais, Champs-Élysées, in case of rioting following Nicolas Sarkozy's election
"The Water Cannon is nozzle attachment mounted to the forward left side of the Aircrane capable of tilting up or down for increased control of the water stream. Connected to the 2,500 gallon (~9,500 litre) tank, the Water Cannon delivers a horizontal stream of water or foam mix up to 160 feet (~49 m) at a rate of 300 gallons (~1,140 litres per minute). With a full water tank, the cannon system is capable of maintaining the 300 gpm (~1,140 lpm) flow for up to eight minutes."
My head is going to explode.
Jokes about the French surrendering to the invaders are a temptation at this point, but in truth, it is not funny. Somehow, the whole of Western society has surrendered the right to defend its borders or culture from the onslaught of these throwbacks to the 7th Century.
A few truckloads of concertina wire could make a good start. 
You know, um, dare I say it - there is a real obvious solution to this problem, at least from the French perspective...
Give them a ride.
The west had better get serious about this problem, and soon.
Just be happy that things haven't gotten to this point (YET) with our illegals here in the USA,
but as they become more and more militant, aided and abetted by La Raza, the ACLU and the Democrat party, it's only a matter of time.
We have the same thing here but we call it the "American Dream".
Eventually the cost of containing these Jihadists will become uneconomical. The only rational alternative will be war to kill them or drive them out. It's coming. The left is using every available means to twist the law toward a Marxist state. The Muslims are simply a pawn for them. The wealthy elite owe the Sheiks so they too contribute to the problem. In France, I see the comeback of the Guillotine once the pot boils over. It's Europe, They are due for a major war.
All the razor wire in the world does not substitute for will, and the Western (reads white if you do not want to be decieved by PC) man has lost that and prefers to live in the fantasy world of liberalism. Even here Respail’s “Camp of the Saints” is reviled by the emotive types who prefer to listen to the Kudlows of the world preach the gospel of lowering taxes as the way to heaven. Its just that cop you quote said more about liberalism than a million conservative commentators who depend on the system could ever say.
Thanks for posting. Very interesting.
Yes. Masses of ungoverned and ungovernable people on the move bode ill for civilization. Always have.
What many don't realize is that instigating this kind of trouble is a tactic of the hard left-- to create chaos using "human waves" of vagrants to overwhelm western institutions, incite repression and reaction, eventually rioting and violence, so the socialist disease can take hold.
“Just be happy that things haven’t gotten to this point (YET) with our illegals here in the USA”
That’s because they are perfectly happy to stay in the USA, they aren’t just trying to pass through...
England needs to close its borders for a year. The French will have to handle the problem themselves. It will get worse if these people from the middle east keep coming into France. France needs to close their borders also. They best get a handle on this or they will be totally taken over by muslims.
“The Camp of the Saints”, Jean Raspail published in 1973. This story reads as if it came right out of the book. Raspail was a prophet.
Amen. BTW, the Southern Poverty Law Center calls my second novel the American "Camp of the Saints."
What did you expect -- people to just hand you food, accomodations, and toilets? ROFL!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.