Banksy Criticizes Use Of Tear Gas On Refugees In New Mural
British street artist Banksy has painted a new controversial piece calling out the French government for its mistreatment of refugees in the infamous Calais camp, also known as "the Jungle."
The image, which is painted near the French Embassy in London, features the iconic image of the young girl from the musical "Les Misérables" with tears streaming down her face and the bottom half of her body obscured by gas.
Near the bottom of the piece is a QR code, reports the Guardian, which allows viewers to access a video of a raid carried out on refugee camps by French police on Jan 5.
The piece is to be dismantled Monday, according to Mashable.
Banksy's protest comes after reports in September showed French police using tear gas on refugees housed in "the Jungle." A police spokesman, Steve Barbet, speaking to the Guardian maintains police did not use tear gas in their raids. “It’s not in our interest to use teargas unless it’s absolutely necessary to restore public order, and it is never used in the camp itself,” he said.
Despite these assertions a 7-minute video posted to YouTube by the user Calais Migrant Solidarity shows what appears to be tear gas being used in a raid on refugees.
French authorities have begun to demolish the Calais camp, which hosts over 7,000 refugees by current estimates, with bulldozers.
Since Banksy's satirical art installation Dismaland -- a distortion of Disneyland intended to critique mass-production -- closed last year, the artist has been shipping the leftover materials to build emergency housing in "the Jungle."
Banksy's "Les Misérables" mural is part of a larger series about the Syrian refugee crisis. In December, a painting of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the son of Syrian immigrants, appeared in a tunnel in the Calais camp.
Also on HuffPost:
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.