LILLE, France, Nov 20 (Reuters) - About 100 Kurdish refugees from northern Iraq tried
unsuccessfully to force their way past French police at Calais on Monday to board ferries
bound for Britain, police said.

The Kurds were prevented from entering the embarkation area and later blocked a road near
Sangatte, close to the entrance to the Channel Tunnel and to a Red Cross centre where they
are sheltered.

Eyewitnesses said a main reason for the attempt was to draw attention to conditions at the
Red Cross centre, which shelters about 900 refugees from various countries. Relations
between different groups there are reported to be tense.

Refugees seeking to enter Britain illegally often try to enter embarkation areas individually
or in small groups to try to sneak aboard ferries or lorries.

According to officials at the Red Cross centre, most of the Iraqi Kurds leave their homes on
horseback and cross mountains to enter Iran from where they are trucked into Turkey.

They often pay thousands of dollars to be sneaked into Britain but are usually abandoned in
French or Belgian ports by by those who brought them there.
**********************
The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com

Click Back In Your Browser To Return To News Headlines