The French authorities on 10 September 2020 prohibited charities from distributing food and water to migrants in the city centre of Calais, situated at the Franco-British border, until 30 September 2020. Despite the unanimous criticism from charities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that this resulted in human rights violations, this ban was subsequently approved by the French courts.

AN UNFAIR, BUT LEGAL BAN 

The French Minister of the Interior and the Prefect of Pas-de-Calais justified the prohibition based on the necessity to maintain public order and ensure social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. The authorities also argued that the food distribution by charities was redundant because migrants were already receiving meals from a designated organisation outside the city centre. The latter argument was highly criticised by charities and NGOs such as Care4Calais. This is because around 1500 migrants are living rough in Calais and do not have easy access to the meals from the designated organisation. 

Amnesty International also denounced this ban as a new step in the perpetual harassment inflicted by the French authorities on humanitarian workers and volunteers. Indeed, the mayor of Calais instituted a similar ban in March 2017, but it was suspended by the Administrative Court of Lille. 

Several charities and NGOs took the French authorities to court to obtain the suspension of this newest ban. However, the Administrative Court of Lille ruled on 22 September 2020 that the present ban was legal. The judge ruled that the prohibition did not breach the principle of fraternity established in 2018 by the Constitutional Council. According to this principle help may be extended “for humanitarian reasons, without consideration as to whether the assisted person is legally residing or not within the French territory”. Moreover, the court held that migrants were still able to access food and water from the designated organisation outside the city centre, and that the distance of around three kilometres on foot did not amount to inhuman living conditions. 

This argument is contrary to a key indicator of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that “the maximum distance from any household to the nearest water point is 500 metres”. This argument was also challenged by the French Defender of Rights, who following her visit to Calais on 22 and 23 September 2020 expressed that the living conditions of migrants were degrading and inhuman. She described the impossibility for some of them to access food every day. It was not the first time that this French independent expert denounced the living conditions of migrants in Calais. For example, in his 2018 report, the previous Defender of Rights also highlighted the lack of access to food and water for this vulnerable population.

Despite these widespread criticisms the Council of State on 25 September 2020 also refused to suspend this ban. This French highest Administrative Court explained that the rights of migrants were not breached because charities were still allowed to deliver food and water near the city centre of Calais. Therefore, the only consequence of this ban on charities was the obligation to move their place of delivery out of the city centre. Members of the French and European Parliaments visited Calais on the same day to support charities and help handing out food in the city centre. They were subsequently fined by the police for failing to respect the ban. 

A BAN RENEWED AND WIDENED

Because of the continued and dire need of migrants, the confirmation of the ban did not discourage charities from delivering food and water to migrants in the city centre. The eviction and destruction of several camps on 29 September 2020 also did not change this view, given the futility of these evictions. Indeed, the majority of the 600 evicted migrants sent to centres throughout France, returned to Calais within days with the aim to reach the United Kingdom. The destruction and relocations were justified by the French authorities as necessary to accommodate migrants due to the weather conditions. However, the charities were concerned about the possible suspension of meal distribution by the designated organisation.

Meanwhile, the ban was renewed until 19 October 2020, and widened to include parts of the northern quarters of Calais. The charity L’Auberge des Migrants denounced this widening, which is seen as being indirectly authorised by the court rulings. Despite charities and NGOs inviting the United Nations Special Rapporteurs in August to observe the human rights violations in Calais, they have to date not reacted to the situation. In the past, these international independent experts have denounced the lack of access to water for migrants in Calais. 

The policy of the French authorities to deprive migrants at the Franco-British border of their basic human rights has lasted for more than twenty years. This recent ban is thus not surprising, but it is only confirmation that the designation of France as the land of human rights is not absolutely true. 

Quentin is writing his dissertation about the International Criminal Court and the Darfur case as part of his Master of laws at Manchester Metropolitan University. Since his volunteering experience with migrants in Calais in 2015-2016, he has been committed to defending their rights. He is also campaigning with Oxfam and Amnesty International about human rights and environmental issues.

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