"One of the police officers then stepped forward and kicked me violently on the left ribs, causing me to fall to the ground."

I am in Calais with my two children. On the night of July 27th to 28th, 2025, around 3 a.m., I was returning to Calais with a group of about 70 people. We were walking along a small road on the outskirts of Calais, pushing the stroller of my young daughter and accompanied by my 5-year-old son. Around 3:20 a.m., we were stopped by two police cars blocking the road. There was a grey Peugeot police car with four officers parked on the right side of the road we came from, at an intersection, and an unmarked grey car with two officers on our path. These two officers were dressed in dark clothes, wearing short-sleeved polo/t-shirts and an armband. 

While we were walking calmly, tired, the six officers who got out of their cars forbade us from continuing towards Calais. The body cameras on their uniforms were green. Even though we explained that we wanted to go to Calais and not return to the beach, they threatened to spray us with tear gas if we did not turn back. 

At that moment, I was at the front of the group with the stroller. I asked them why they were threatening us, telling them I was with my children, showing them the stroller and making gestures with my hands. One of the police officers then stepped forward and kicked me violently on the left ribs, causing me to fall to the ground. Someone in the group who speaks French told me that when the other officers saw their colleague hit me, they asked him why he did that. 

My children began to cry. Still on the ground, I tried to take out my phone to photograph the license plate of the police car, and at that moment, the officer who had hit me came back, snatched the phone from my hands, and threw it far into the trees before leaving. 

As the police left, the rest of the group tried to take photos of the car but failed. When I managed to get up, I searched with the group for my phone for about 20 minutes, and we finally found it. The screen was cracked. At that point, I wrote to the Utopia56 (a solidaity organisation in the area) night patrol asking them to call an ambulance because I was in great pain. I shared my location with them: 50°56'45.5"N 1°48'27.6"E. An ambulance was sent, but I had already moved when it arrived. 

Most of the group continued to Calais. I stayed with about ten mostly Arab women (some Iraqi and Yemeni) who helped me walk and bring the stroller and my children to Calais. I had severe pain in my ribs and back and had difficulty breathing. About ten minutes after we resumed our walk toward Calais, the unmarked police car -driven by the man who had hit me- returned and followed us from a distance. 

We finally reached Calais, near the informal living area where I live. Here, I saw that the police officer who had kicked me was still in the unmarked car, continuing to watch me from afar. The women went down to the living area, and I fell because of the pain. I then asked Utopia56, with whom I was in contact the whole time via Google Translate, for help to call an ambulance because I was suffering greatly. 

I was taken to the hospital where I was told that the blow from the police officer had fractured two ribs.