France: Canadian Student Raped at Migrant Camp in Calais

French police are hunting a man who raped a journalism student from London as she prepared a photo-report at an illegal immigrant camp in woods near Calais.

The 31-year-old Canadian had been interviewing migrants desperate to reach Britain by stowing away under lorries. The patch of woodland near Calais port is known as The Jungle, where would-be asylum seekers sleep rough under scraps of plastic sheeting. The woman had visited the area three times before she was raped on Tuesday at around 7pm.

Philippe Muller, vice-prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-mer, said: "She was photographing a group of migrants when one of them offered to show her something else. She followed him into a shack in the woods." She was raped and beaten before a migrant intervened to stop the attack.

Police have issued Interpol with a photo fit of the suspect. He is described as being of Middle Eastern origin and speaking fluent French. The authorities have not established if he is a migrant or one of the many people-smugglers who target the area. He is not thought to be French, but the possibility has not been ruled out.

The Jungle, with no running water or electricity, has seen thousands of rough-sleepers since the Sangatte Red Cross center closed in 2002. About 400 people are estimated to be squatting in the woods. Half tend to be from African countries such as Sudan, Mali and Eritrea. Others are from Iraq, Pakistan and Iran.

Father Jean-Pierre Boutoille, of the refugee charity C'Sur, said the suspect's fluent French "suggests he was therefore not actually an illegal immigrant but someone else who was in the wood at that time, as most of the illegal immigrants don't speak French".

Vincent Lenoir, of the Salam association which distributes meals to immigrants, said: "The atmosphere here among the migrants is one of sadness and shock."