UN experts are calling on the French government to provide drinking water and sanitary services to migrants in the northern coastal areas of France. They said the migrants are living in inhumane conditions.
UN experts for human rights are urgently calling on the French government to provide drinking water, sanitation services and emergency shelter for migrants and asylum-seekers who remain in Calais, Grande-Synthe, Tatinghem, Dieppe and other areas along the northern French coast.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) estimated that there are up to 900 migrants and asylum-seekers in Calais, 350 in Grande-Synthe, and an unidentified number at other sites elsewhere along the northern French coast who are living without adequate emergency shelter and proper access to drinking water, toilets or washing facilities.
"Inhumane situation" in northern France
Since last year, the French Government has adopted temporary measures to provide access to emergency shelter, drinking water and sanitation for some migrants and asylum seekers, but it is not enough, the experts warn.
"Migrants and asylum-seekers along the northern French coast, including those not admitted to the sports centre in Grande-Synthe, are facing an inhumane situation, with some living in tents without toilets and washing themselves in polluted rivers or lakes," said Léo Heller, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation.
"I am concerned that for every step forward, two steps are taken back. The situation along the northern French coast is emblematic of the need for much more attention from national and international authorities on this issue," Heller said.
Dismantling camps is not a solution
The UN experts said in the absence of valid alternatives in the provision of adequate housing, dismantling the camps is not a long-term solution. "We are concerned about increasingly regressive migration policies and the inhumane and substandard conditions suffered by migrants," said the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales.
"Migrants, regardless of their status, are entitled to human rights without discrimination, including access to adequate housing, education, healthcare, water and sanitation. By depriving them of their rights or making access increasingly difficult, France is violating its international human rights obligations," Morales said.
The UN experts also called for action to end harassment and intimidation of volunteers and members of NGOs providing humanitarian aid to migrants.