Police deployed to evacuate a migrant camp in the north of the country on 30 December were pelted with stones by migrants, who injured 16 officers with some requiring hospital care. Eventually, the camp was vacated three days later. One immigrant was taken into custody.

Eyewitnesses described the migrant camp in Calais as a war-stricken area after the French riot police (CRS) had made an attempt to evacuate it. The sixty-strong police force met with fierce resistance with about a hundred migrants attacking them with stones and other projectiles. At least fifteen policemen and gendarmes were injured in the one-hour clash, according to press reports.

Calais: des affrontements entre policiers et migrants survenus lors d’une opération d’évacuation ce jeudi pic.twitter.com/JpMuHCd4d9

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) December 30, 2021

Footage taken on the scene shows that some truck drivers, armed with metal pipes, headed towards the fence in a bid to help restore order, but the enraged migrants hurled objects at them.

CALAIS : Violents affrontements entre migrants, routiers et CRS aujourd’hui. Au moins 15 policiers ont été hospitalisés (France Bleu / Camille Hbn – Facebook). #Calais pic.twitter.com/nCE9uyVOdu

— Infos Françaises (@InfosFrancaises) December 30, 2021

The atrocity took place in the so-called Transmarck zone, the place where most migrants try to climb onto lorries or somehow get into vehicles on their way to England. The migrants attacked the police with unprecedented violence, throwing bags filled with rocks and stones at them.

La ?? ne peut pas accueillir toute la misère du monde, encore – celle des ??!
A #Calais, des #migrants sans papiers installés sur des campements sauvages, ont agressé des #policiers venus faire respecter la loi.
Jets de projectiles, prise á partie:
16 #CRS blessés.
Y’en a marre! pic.twitter.com/gedfIwr2wf

— Matthieu Valet (@mvaletsicp) December 30, 2021

All possible means of defence must be used against violent migrants, the UNSA Police trade union posted on Twitter.

CRS Calais : Ce matin suite démantèlement Camp, des Gendarmes & 7 CRS blessés.Tout notre soutien á nos collègues blessés. Face á la violences des migrants lors de ces opérations, l’utilisation de tous nos moyens de défense est plus que nécessaire. pic.twitter.com/zqsgeIim8P

— UNSA Police CRS Hauts de France (@unsadh) December 30, 2021

After the incident, the prefect of Pas-de-Calais department issued a statement, in which he deeply condemned the extremely violent attack the migrants launched against the police deployed to eliminate the camp, and he assured the officers injured in the attack of his full support.

Louis Le Franc, préfet du #PasDeCalais, condamne fermement les violences survenues ce matin á #Calais, lors d’une opération d’évacuation visant á mettre fin á une occupation illicite, et apporte son soutien total aux policiers et gendarmes blessés. pic.twitter.com/e40gDEu6QE

— Préfet Pas-de-Calais (@Prefet62) December 30, 2021

The 200 inhabitants of the illegal migrant camp were finally evacuated three days after the clash, on 2 January. Patrick Leleu, the deputy prosecutor of the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer, said the operation had two basic objectives: to conduct the evacuation, which failed due to the clashes on Thursday, and to arrest those responsible. Le Figaro wrote that so far one migrant who can be directly linked to the events of 30 December has been detained,

A migrant associations called l’Auberge des migrants and the local prefecture issued statements contradicting each other. The association claimed that the operation had repeatedly violated the rights of the immigrants, whereas Alain Castanier, secretary general of the county prefecture, condemned the misinformation of the associations assisting migrants and said that the action took place in an orderly manner, without violence on their part.

According to Le Figaro, one of the police officers is still in hospital with an open tibia fracture.