Rights groups slam French government over condition of refugees

In a letter to French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner on Wednesday, the rights groups, including Amnesty International and Doctors without Borders, warned the French government about the refugees’ conditions in the country’s detention camps.

They said that two people had committed suicide in the detention centers, and cited cases of hunger strikes, riots, and arson attempts due to the difficult conditions at the sites.

“Men and women self-harm or attempt suicide in the Administrative Detention Centers (CRAs) [as] the result of an unacceptable policy that leads to an extremely alarming situation,” read the letter.

The government, it said, “trivializes the deprivation of liberty for foreigners” in the meantime.

The 20 associations also called on Castaner to ban the confinement of children, to protect the sick, and to “put an end to the administration’s illegal practices.”

Castaner said on Tuesday that the detention of children in the CRAs had to remain an “exceptional” circumstance and only happen in specialized centers capable of housing whole families.

But the letter by the rights groups indicated that was not happening.

The rights groups also said there were many detainees suffering from mental disorders who were being locked up in separate rooms with no professional help.

France’s highest administrative court issued an order last week calling for the installation of water points, showers, and toilets in a gymnasium that is housing some 700 refugees in Grande-Sythe in northern France.

The NGOs described the situation at the site as a violation of the rights of the detainees.

Earlier this month, another group of rights organizations said that last year saw a rise in the number of families with children being held in French refugee detention centers, with 1,221 children on the French-administered Indian Ocean island of Mayotte and 208 more in mainland France.

According to The Guardian, an estimated 16,000 refugees live in 497 informal settlements in France.

France intimidates pro-refugee people: AmnestyFrench authorities have harassed people offering humanitarian aid to refugees, Amnesty said.

Last month, the United Nations (UN)’s special rapporteur for housing also called on the French government to act on the “dire” living conditions of refugees sleeping rough in Calais, the site of the former notorious “Jungle” camp in northern France.

The human rights groups said in their Wednesday letter that police in Calais forcibly evicted people who were sleeping outside in wooded areas or by the sides of roads and confiscated their tents and sleeping bags, leaving them without any shelter.

France adopted harsh refugee policies after destroying Calais’ notorious camp back in October 2016.

Most of the refugees arriving in France, and Europe in general, are the nationals of Middle Eastern countries who have been displaced by conflict, often instigated by Western countries.