British far-left activists are “manipulating migrants” to stage mass intrusions into the Channel Tunnel and provoke violent clashes with security forces they depict as “savages”, French police have claimed.
The accusations came two days after a French officer was treated for face wounds after being struck by a rock apparently thrown by a Sudanese migrant in the first such incident inside the Eurotunnel site to date.
Migrants made around 1,700 attempts on Sunday night to penetrate the Eurotunnel premises in a bid to get to England.
The previous night, an “organised” group of around 200 migrants tried to “walk” to the UK via the Channel Tunnel, tearing down outer fences and charging past police with tear gas, chanting: “Open the borders!’”.
When they were rebuffed, they staged a sit-in that lasted into the early hours of before finally being dispersed.
Gilles Debove, of police union Unité SGP-Police FO, said police were convinced such action was being encouraged and coordinated by anarchists or far-Left activists, some belonging to the No Borders group.
He told the Telegraph: “I’ve never seen an organised sit-in before. This is being encouraged not by human traffickers, who wish to remain discreet, but by extreme Left elements here to manipulate the migrants in the name of their ideal of imposing a country without borders or police.”
“Among these activists are quite a few Britons,” he added. “For now they have been allowed to act with total impunity. It’s time for a return to the rule of law: they need to be identified and arrested.
“They are seeking opportunities to provoke clashes with the police and violence in the hope that the police will drop their guard (in protecting the site).
“They want to depict us as savages. But if there was any police brutality, it would be all over the news.”
He blamed their influence on a CRS riot policeman being hit in the face by track ballast apparently thrown by a Sudanese migrant, who was arrested. The policeman was taken to hospital for stitches. “They are seeking to stoke migrant hatred of police,” he warned.
This was the first time an officer was injured inside the Eurotunnel site. Last year, an officer suffered shoulder injuries when a migrant knocked him to the ground at the ferry port and another suffered stomach wounds when migrants slammed a lorry door into him during a motorway check.
With their numbers now having reached around 4,000 in Calais, migrants from countries including Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan are making increasingly desperate attempts to reach Britain.
At least 10 have died since June seeking to illegally reach what many view as an “Eldorado". However, reports of violence have to date been extremely low.
Calais Migrant Solidarity, a help network relaying unofficial reports of police brutality, denied there was any radical activist plot to manipulate the migrants and that these were "simply desperate people coming together to protest in a more organised way because that's the only recourse they have to get their voices heard".
Jason, a "European" spokesman, said: "Sometimes people accompany migrants when they actually go on demonstrations but I haven't seen anyone organising or manipulating any groups here. That's a fabrication.
"The meetings were held exclusively among the migrants. They decided to go to the tunnel as together a group as they had had no success individually."
He accused the police of brutality and said he suspected it used "military grade" gas on migrants that knocked some unconscious on Saturday although they were, he insisted, nowhere near breaking into the inner Eurotunnel area and were simply making a "peaceful protest".
"The police have been getting bad press of late and are exaggerating claims of violence and intrusions,” he said.
He said he expected more "organised protests" blocking the road to the Eurotunnel entrance "in the coming days".
At the main migrant camp outside Calais known as the Jungle, there is evidence of more radical activities at work.
On a caravan that acts as an information bureau, a map denounces “Fortress Europe”, showing Italy as racist, France as colonialist, Germany as repressive and Britain as exploitative.
Printed sheets of advice on how to improve their chances of claiming asylum, which carry the contact details of several British-based migrants' rights groups.
The documents warn migrants British Home Office officials are “not your friends” and “will try to refuse your claim and remove you” unless convinced otherwise. They also include lists of the various questions that Home Office officials use to rumble bogus applicants.
One trick question is to ask the denominations of the currency in the country they claim to have come from. Another is to inquire the name of the president, or the months in the calendar year. “Prepare for the interview and know your story well,” the documents advise.
Migrants are told to choose a "category", which proves that are under grave danger in their homeland. Reasons given include ‘"race and religion" and "being gay in some countries".
