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10-04-2017
The Fire
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A fire at the Linier refugee camp in Grande-Santé, on the northern coast of France, destroyed more than 75 per cent of the camp's 300 wooden huts. The camp is the only remaining refugee camp for those travelling from France to the UK.
The camp had a capacity of 700 people, but at the time of the fire it held more than 1,500. The main population of the camp was Kurds from Iraq. However, six months ago, there was a massive influx of Afghan refugees after the French Government destroyed the main camp built by the refugees in Calais, 25 miles away, which housed some 3,000 refugees. Those who agreed to go to the ‘Centre d'accueil et d'orientation’ (CAO) were dispersed throughout France, many of them walking the 25 miles to the Linière camp.
The arrival of Afghan refugees increased the camp's population to 1,500, but no new chalets were built, and many of the new arrivals had to sleep in the communal areas - the kitchen, the dining room, and so on. In such overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, conflict erupted within the camp. Five or six people sleep together in a seven square metre hut.
The cause of the fire in the camp has not been fully identified and remains unclear. The Government and the media claimed that the fire was the result of a knife fight between Afghans and Kurds, which left four people injured.
Despite the presence of eight firefighters that night, nothing appears to have been done to stop the fire from spreading. Ten people were injured in the fire, and only 70 of the 300 huts reportedly survived.
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All that was left of the huts at the Grande-Synthe migrant camp Tuesday.
Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/AFP/Getty Images