20 injured in brawl at French 'Jungle' migrant camp

5/27/2016 3:34:32 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) A migrant walks past a makeshift restaurant in the so-called "Jungle" migrant camp in Calais on February 23, 2016. AFP / Denis Charlet

Calais, France: Some 20 migrants living in the "Jungle" refugee camp in the northern French port of Calais were injured in a brawl between 200 Afghans and Sudanese on Thursday, local officials said.

The fight broke out as food was being distributed at the Jules-Ferry aid centre, local officials said.

It spread to a neighbouring container camp set up by local authorities, police added.

An AFP reporter at the scene also reported that several makeshift shelters within the main camp had been burned down.

The situation had calmed down by early evening.

Fights have frequently broken out in the tense and desperate atmosphere of the camp, which is roughly divided between the main communities -- primarily Afghans, Sudanese, Kurdish and Syrian.

Although the government says the number is vastly inflated, French and British charities say nearly 5,000 people remain in the Jungle despite efforts to clear the camp and demolish shelters earlier this year.

Thousands of migrants and refugees have camped out there, hoping to smuggle themselves aboard lorries that are crossing the Channel to Britain.

AFP

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