Volunteers holding an impromptu rally in Dover, Kent, after an aid convoy was refused entry to France by authorities. Steve Sweeney/People's Assembly
A convoy of 250 vehicles taking tonnes of aid and donations to refugees in Calais has been refused permission to cross the Channel by French authorities in a decision condemned as “shameful” by volunteers.
Hundreds of people had assembled in Whitehall before driving down to Dover, with ferry tickets booked for a crossing on Saturday afternoon.
But the French police, who carry out border checks on English soil as part of a bilateral treaty, refused entry to the country for unspecified security concerns.
Members of the convoy were held in Dover as the ban was confirmed, holding a rally where protesters waving “refugees welcome” banners chanted: “We’ve got aid, let us through – refugees are people too.”
Kent Police was sent an official notification from French authorities that entry had been refused.
“No agency within the United Kingdom has any grounds to challenge this decision,” a spokesperson said.
“The refusal of entry to France is a matter for the French authorities.”
A spokesperson for the Port of Dover authority said the ensuing demonstration caused “temporary disruption” from midday onwards but that services had returned to normal.
It came after the port in Calais was shut down for several hours in the early hours of Saturday morning when refugees were spotted swimming in the sea, making desperate attempts to board ferries to the UK.
Shipping traffic was stopped shortly after 2am as a search and rescue operation was launched, with those taken out of the water transferred to hospital.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου