French police have cleared a camp believed to have been used by some of the dozen people, including six children, who died after their dinghy ripped apart in the Channel, reports The Guardian.
In the early hours of Wednesday, belongings and tents were removed and tens of people were bussed away from an unofficial refugee settlement near Calais known locally as the “BMX site”.
Six children and a pregnant woman were among 12 people who died on Tuesday morning three miles off Cap Gris-Nez, south of Calais, when a flimsy dinghy in which 65 people were being transported collapsed in the water. Of the dead, 10 were female.
It has emerged that moments before the collapse of the dinghy, 15 people had been safely moved on to a rescue boat after calling for help, but that the majority had chosen to go on.
French prosecutors have said that many of those caught up in the tragedy originated from the north-east African state of Eritrea, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.
The French government has a “no fixation” policy that is designed to deter people seeking to cross to the UK from living in camps by the coast, and diggers and riot police were mobilised early on Wednesday morning to clear a site where Eritreans had been staying.
Charities working with migrants in northern France said that those who had lost possessions in the clearout included survivors of Tuesday’s sinking, although this could not be independently verified.