Armed Militia Groups Attack Calais Migrants

Armed far-right groups have launched a series of violent attacks on migrants in northern France in recent weeks, say charity workers.

Two people suffered life-threatening injuries when they were assaulted outside the sprawling "Jungle" camp in Calais.

Medical workers say masked men, armed with clubs, knuckledusters, pepper spray and knives, have been entering the camp at night to carry out the beatings.

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Marianne Humbersot, from the camp's legal centre, said 50 incidents have been documented in the last three weeks.

She said eight complaints of police brutality and five against civilian militias have been filed with the French judiciary.

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They include a 10-year-old boy allegedly assaulted by police and a 13-year-old boy who suffered a broken foot and broken nose.

"We are seeing increasing breaches of human rights here in Calais - everything you can imagine," Ms Humbersot said.

"And the refugees, who have already endured so much to escape conflict, are finding themselves at the centre of hostility and violence here in France."

In Loon-Plage, a port town between Calais and Dunkirk, seven men armed with iron bars and batons were arrested on Wednesday night for allegedly beating five Iraqi Kurds.

Some of the men, aged 24 to 27, said they supported far-right groups in France, according to Dunkirk prosecutor Eric Fouard.

The charity Medicin Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it has treated migrants for fractures, stabbings, broken bones, head trauma and severe bruising.

Clare Moseley, founder of UK charity Care4Calais, said she had interviewed a 16-year-old boy who said he was beaten with sticks by police, and then attacked by a civilian militia.

There are currently about 4,200 migrants in Calais, mostly from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea, and up to 2,000 more in another makeshift camp near Dunkirk.

The French government has announced plans to bulldoze half of the Jungle camp.