Human rights activists reported that a Chechen couple and their eight children were arrested by police in La Roche-sur-Yon, France.

According to the report, on September 27, at about 6:00am local time, French police cordoned off the area in the district of Forges, within La Roche-sur-Yon where the Chechen family lives. All the family members were arrested and they were sent to a detention center in Saint-Jacques, close to the city of Rennes. Police even didn’t let the family to package their personal belongings. It has been learned that on Wednesday morning they will be sent back to Poland which was their point of entry into the European Union.

“The mother found time to call me and say that ‘police are here, police are here’. This wasn’t a family who plays games with the authorities, they didn’t try to hide or flee,” said Karine Fayi, an activist from CIMADE (Ecumenical centre for mutual assistance).

On the other hand, members of different human rights organizations condemned the police’s methods.

Three councilors in La Roche-sur-Yon published a press-statement about the issue. Here is the statement:

“We are indignant at the scene that we witnessed this morning: the expulsion of a Chechen refugee family with eight children. We were alerted by the association, we were present there and we found that the policies and methods are unworthy and irresponsible.

This refugee family, which was hosted by the mosque and then aided by the city due to the failure of the government, was brutally evicted at 6:00am and sent to the detention center in Rennes. The gulf between the police and the family was shocking. We asked to verify that this expulsion was carried out humanely, but we were denied.

We went to the prefecture together with the associations to demand accountability for the methods used, however, we were greeted by a special police ‘honor guard’. The exchange with the services of the prefecture was only allowed to take note of disagreement on the method. It would have been possible to avoid trauma of the deportees, especially the children. On the contrary, the method stigmatizes a community and creates uncertainty.

Martine Chantecaille, the Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste)
Lysiane Guibert, the Communist Party (Parti Communiste)
Mathilde Mage, the Greens Europe Ecologie (Europe Ecologie Les Verts)“

Some human rights activists managed to take videos during the police operation. You may watch the video HERE.

*Text was written by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco