Young Migrant Is Killed By Train Near Channel Tunnel Entrance In France

VICE News is closely watching the international migrant crisis. Check out the Open Water blog here.

A young migrant was killed overnight by a freight shuttle near the entrance of the Channel tunnel in the French port of Calais, French officials said Thursday. The boy is the 11th person to have died near the tunnel since the end of June.

A spokesman for the Pas-de-Calais prefecture told AFP that the deceased migrant was a minor from Africa. He is believed to be either Eritrean or Sudanese. Officials said that the teen was hit by the train around 2AM local time. An investigation into his death is currently underway.

The freight shuttle that hit the boy was on its way back to France from the UK, and was "making a loop" outside the French entrance to the tunnel when the accident happened, a spokesman for Eurotunnel said. The tunnel operator noted, "Any attempt to cross the Channel illegally carries considerable risks."

In late August, Eurotunnel noted a drop in intrusion attempts at the Calais terminal. At the height of the crisis in July, a reported 2,000 migrants were attempting to reach the UK every night, prompting officials to step up security around the tunnel entrance. This month, Eurotunnel has recorded between 100 and 200 nightly intrusions.

Last week a Syrian migrant died after being electrocuted near the entrance to the Eurotunnel.

More than 4,000 migrants are reportedly living in makeshift camps in and around Calais, waiting for an opportunity to board UK-bound trucks and freight or passenger trains — including the Eurostar train that connects Calais to the UK via the Channel tunnel.

Related: French Ferry Workers Strike in Calais as Aid Organizations Warn of Migrant Crisis

Migrant evacuations in downtown Calais

On Monday, police evacuated four makeshift migrant camps in downtown Calais housing 400 people — mainly Syrian and African migrants.

The evacuation turned violent, with police firing tear gas on migrants refusing to vacate. Three activists from the "No Border" movement were arrested in the scuffle. Later, police used bulldozers to raze one of the four camps housing mainly Eritrean migrants.

Police fire tear gas on Syrian refugees refusing to leave their camp in downtown Calais (via The Guardian)

Forced to live in the Jungle

A spokesperson for the local administration told daily La Croix that officials intended to evacuate "all illegal camps" in Calais. Officials have asked migrants to relocate to the Jungle — a slum on the outskirts of the city sanctioned by the authorities. The makeshift camp currently houses some 3,000 migrants.

However, many migrants are reluctant to move there, a spokesman for Médecins du Monde told AFP.

Migrants living in the Jungle have said that police entered the camp Monday, destroying tents and personal belongings — including passports. Speaking to VICE News Thursday, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture said, "All evacuations were carried out on private land," and that police had not conducted raids inside the Jungle. They did, however, confirm that police had removed tents from land adjacent to the Jungle. Officials insisted that all evictions carried out earlier this week were legal.

In — Leigh Daynes (@LeighDOTW)21 Septembre 2015

Footage shot by migrant advocacy group Care4Calais shows officers firing tear gas on the crowd of migrants stationed outside the camp. A spokesman for the charity told British television channel ITV that migrants had been protesting the previous day's evictions and their forced relocation to the Jungle.

Clashes between the police and migrants outside the entrance of the Jungle on Tuesday. (via Care4Calais)

Véronique Fayet, president of the French Christian charity Secours Catholique — which has been very active on the ground in Calais — has criticized French authorities for forcing migrants to live in "a ghetto run by the mafia, where prostitution is rife."

In an address posted to YouTube Tuesday, Fayet denounced the government's inaction following an earlier promise to rehouse migrants. French Prime Minister Maunel Valls announced in August that the government would build a camp with enough tents to accommodate 1,500 people in the port city — half the number of migrants currently living in the Jungle. Fayet said that there was still no news of the camp, "even as winter approaches."

Follow Pierre Longeray on Twitter: @PLongeray