the priest Philippe Demeestère, who warned about the expulsions of migrants, stops his hunger strike
On a hunger strike since October 11 in the company of two activists, the Jesuit priest in Catholic relief from Calais has decided to stop his action. The 72-year-old man alerted the authorities to the expulsions of migrants in Calais and wants to continue his “fight otherwise”.
The end of a 25 day fight. On hunger strike since October 11 in the company of two activists, the Jesuit priest in Catholic relief from Calais, Philippe Demeestère, announced Thursday, November 4 in a press release that he was putting an end to his hunger strike.
“This strike invoked for me a tool among others, to shake the immobilizations, to stop the infernal mechanism which subjects exiled people to inhuman and degrading treatment on the lands of Calais”, explains the 72-year-old priest, who had started his action to alert the authorities to the expulsions of migrants in Calais.
The two associative activists continue their strike
While the two associative activists who accompanied him, Anaïs Vogel and Ludovic Holbein, continue their hunger strike, Philippe Demeestère says he wants to continue the “fight differently”. “As of today, I am resuming the work prior to the commissioning, in Calais, of a new winter shelter for the most vulnerable exiled people.” He announces that he will also spend nights with the migrants, and invites people to “act in the same way”.
On Wednesday, the director general of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) and government mediator, Didier Leschi, met the priest and the two activists to discuss the dismantling of migrant camps and living conditions exiles.
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