Rightists call for expulsion of migrants from French port city of Calais
Protest comes days after refugees tried to storm a ferry in a bid to reach their British 'Eldorado'
Far-right groups have rallied against migrants in the northern French port of Calais, days after refugees tried to storm their way onto a ferry to England.
Some protesters carried placards saying "Kick them out!" and others blamed migrants for the "crime, filth and economic disaster" they claim was affecting Calais, the town from which hundreds of refugees hope to make it across the English Channel.
The people are rising up to say no to the invasion of our continent
Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart threatened to close the port last week in protest at London not doing enough to deter migrants, who she claimed considered Britain "an Eldorado".
More than 100 migrants stormed the gates of the port on Wednesday in a failed bid to board a ferry, after a number of confrontations last month around the heavily guarded docks. French police say there are between 1,200 and 1,300 migrants in Calais, mostly from East Africa, looking for illegal passage to Britain.
The recently formed collective "Save Calais" rallied other extreme-rightists to Sunday's demonstration.
Before a crowd of a few hundred laughing and booing supporters, Olivier Roulier from the extreme right Identity Network said: "From Vladivostok to Calais and Lampedusa, the people are rising up to say no to the invasion of our continent."
To shouts of "This is our place", one of the organisers of the rally, Kevin Reche, called for the shacks in which migrants sleep to be cleared.
