France arrests 14 of anti-migrant group

A woman and a child at a makeshift camp in the Greek village of Idomeni, near the Macedonian border, on Saturday. (Photo: AFP)

The French police arrested 14 people on Saturday after a far-right group took to the streets for an anti-immigrant rally in the port town of Calais, where thousands of migrants are living in improvised camps.

The roughly 80 activists blocked off two bridges close to the city centre and burned tyres, waved banners and set off smoke bombs, police and officials said.

The riot police broke up the demonstration and seized a truck transporting equipment for the group.

While surrounded by officers, some protesters carried banners saying “No Way” and “Go Home,” according to photos and video of the protest posted on Twitter.

A press release from the far-right group — Generation Identitaire — said about 130 activists took control of “three bridges that allowed migrants to access the city of Calais”.

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande said Saturday that the EU must not grant Turkey any concessions on human rights or visas in exchange for guarantees to stem the flow of migrants to Europe.

“There cannot be any concessions on the matter of human rights or the criteria for visa liberalisation,” Mr Hollande told reporters ahead of the resumption next week of tough negotiations between Turkey and the EU. Under a controversial draft deal reached this week, Turkey would take back all migrants landing in Greece in a bid to reduce their incentive to pay people smugglers for dangerous crossings to the Greek islands.