Alone aboard a van belonging to the Salam association that he chaired, he left the road and fell into the Escaut Canal where he drowned. He was 73 years old.
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Jean-Claude Lenoir, the president of the Salam association which helps migrants in Calais and the Opal Coast (Pas-de-Calais), died Thursday evening in a road accident, the Calais yacht club he chaired and the mayor of Calais confirmed on Friday July 12. Natacha Bouchart salutes “a humanist with strong words and concrete actions.”
Jean-Claude Lenoir was the victim of a car accident in Calais, late Thursday afternoon, reports France Bleu Nord. He was 73 years old. Around 6 p.m., he was driving alone in Calais in the Salam association van when he left the road. His vehicle fell into the Escaut Canal. Despite assistance from passers-by, Jean-Claude Lenoir drowned.
On her Facebook page, the mayor of Calais paid tribute to this great figure in helping migrants in Pas-de-Calais this Friday lunchtime. “Calais has lost a humanist who fought all his life against the injustices suffered by migrant populations to whom some present England as an Eldorado”writes Natacha Bouchart.
The Calais Yacht Club, which Jean-Claude Renoir chaired, as well as the Pas-de-Calais departmental sailing committee, also paid tribute to him on its Facebook page.
President of the Salam association, which has been helping exiles from the Opal Coast for about fifteen years, he was a volunteer very involved with migrants. He worked a lot in the Sangatte camp and in the Calais jungle. In 2004, he was tried in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) for “support for the stay of persons in an irregular situation”recalls France Bleu Nord. He had been convicted but exempted from punishment. In November 2008, he had been taken into custody for insulting CRS. He had been acquitted by the Boulogne-sur-Mer court.
