Date: Tue, 12 May 2015 18:07:09 +0200
The video was uploaded by a group called Calais Migrant Solidarity, which has a website in both English and French. There, the group explained that the video showcased what was actually "everyday police brutality"
But the conditions for the migrants, most of whom are fleeing war and repression in Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea appears to be worsening with police forcing them to relocate to a new camp on the edge of town, described by one humanitarian organisation as “the worst in Europe”.
The video, which made headline news in the French media, echoes a January report from Human Rights Watch which accused the police in Calais of "harassment and abuse" towards migrants.
“Asylum seekers and migrants living in the poverty in the port city of Calais are victims of harassment and abuse by French police,” the group wrote.
The report was based on the accounts of 44 migrants who claimed to have witnessed the abuse. France’s Interior Ministry suggested the report was biased.
Meanwhile in Paris, around 500 migrants have set up makeshift shelters at two locations in the heart of the city. When The Local visited recently, many said they weren't keen on staying in Paris and had their sights set on the UK and Norway.