Calais: death of Ismael
Calais Migrant Solidarity | 26.12.2011 10:25 | Migration | Repression
Calais has killed a person, a young Ethiopian man, who has spent some time Calais and is known to a lot of people there. He was found at the bottom of a bridge in the center of Calais in the early hours of Thursday 22 December.
Ismael had spent much time in Calais with a lot of friends here and in many places along his journey. It has been a loss not only to the Ethopian community but across all communities.
The reason for his death is not clear, what happened or why. The police immediately tried to close the case as suicide, treating his death as insignificant. There has been no autopsy and further investigation has been refused. His friends have been denied permission to identify the body, they have tried twice at the central police station because it is very important to them, but have been met with threats that the border police (PAF) will be called if they do not leave. Only a person from Calais has been allowed identify him.
Clearly the police don’t find it important enough to investigate a death, but would rather spend time continuing to harass ‘foreigners’, both those with and without papers. On the same day that people found out this man died the police continued to raid these people’s homes, as normal. So what is the police’ work? To prevent death, or create death? A rhetorical question.
This fascist state of Calais with its pristine parks gives more water and health to its flowers then to people.
This is not the first time a person has been killed by the border system, and as long as it remains it will not be the last.
A vigil was held with many people at the site where he died on Sunday evening.
The reason for his death is not clear, what happened or why. The police immediately tried to close the case as suicide, treating his death as insignificant. There has been no autopsy and further investigation has been refused. His friends have been denied permission to identify the body, they have tried twice at the central police station because it is very important to them, but have been met with threats that the border police (PAF) will be called if they do not leave. Only a person from Calais has been allowed identify him.
Clearly the police don’t find it important enough to investigate a death, but would rather spend time continuing to harass ‘foreigners’, both those with and without papers. On the same day that people found out this man died the police continued to raid these people’s homes, as normal. So what is the police’ work? To prevent death, or create death? A rhetorical question.
This fascist state of Calais with its pristine parks gives more water and health to its flowers then to people.
This is not the first time a person has been killed by the border system, and as long as it remains it will not be the last.
A vigil was held with many people at the site where he died on Sunday evening.
Calais Migrant Solidarity
Homepage:
https://calaismigrantsolidarity.wordpress.com/
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People don't believe it was suicide
27.12.2011 01:08
MIGRANTS IN CALAIS DON'T BELIEVE THEIR FRIEND ISMAIL COMMITTED SUICIDE
The young man was found unconcious at the bottom of George V bridge Thursday morning
Monday, 26.12.2011, 06:00
Fifty migrants came together last night at the bridge Georges V in Calais because they do not believe that his death was suicide, the assumption made by the public prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer
It was there that, three days earlier, the body of Ismail was found lifeless.
They arrived shortly after 7:15 p.m., with an armful of small flower pots packed in cartons, and candles. It was a funeral at the initiative of fifty migrants of African origin, who came to pay their last respects to their dead friend at bridge Georges V, Thursday at four o'clock in the morning.
Below the bridge in front of Central Station, the traces of blood are still visible, a few inches from one of the pillars of the framework of stone. A pool in which lay the body of Ismail, an twenty year-old Ethiopian immigrant. Last night, in addition to their desire to pray and lay wreaths of flowers, migrants wanted to "show (their) misunderstanding
about the suicide theory advanced by the authorities", explained one of the participants.
"We cant move forward. We do not believe the suicide of the boy."
Migrants present yesterday remarked that "the height of the bridge is not high enough to kill himself. If he had wanted to commit suicide, he would have jumped to another location, or jump directly into the water. But there he fell precisely between the bridge pier and the channel. The pool of blood proves it. It's strange. "
Assault?
Some advanced the theory of an attack, while others assumed a "chase gone wrong. All we want is that the court works on this issue. "
The prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer was already convinced on Thursday that his death was a desperate act.
The body of the young Ismail is still in the morgue of Boulogne-sur-Mer.
No Borderer
Death toll in Calais
27.12.2011 01:56
With Ismael's death, three migrants have been confirmed dead this year in Calais alone as a result of the border regime:
- February: A 24 year-old Afghan was chased by police and drowned after jumping in the canal
- May: An Iranian man died whilst trying to close a lorry door as the vehicle was in motion
- December: Ismail, from Ethiopia, is reported dead in unexplained circumstances
This does not inlcude this year's deaths in nearby migration hotspots of Dunkirk, Steenvorde and of course Paris, some of which have also been documented on our blog:
It does not include the countless injuries acquired during police chases or beatings or the "killing by heart" (as a Sudanese man put it) of constant harassment, eviction, sleep deprivation and chasing.
It does not include those who go missing. For example, in January, two teenage Palestinian migrants disappeared after climbing into a reservoir pipe in Calais during a police chase with dogs, and are feared to have drowned.
RIP Ismael, and the 17,000+ others dead at the borders of Fortress Europe
Smash the borders