Elusive artist Banksy has created a new piece criticising the use of tear gas on refugees in the Calais "Jungle."
The work appeared on a building opposite the French embassy in London. It depicts a young girl used in posters for the musical Les Misérables with tears rolling down her face, the torn up French flag flying behind her, and a tear gas canister still emitting gas underneath.
AP Photo/Alastair Grant
In recent weeks the French police been firing tear gas at refugees during clashes, and according to volunteers are also firing canisters directly into the camp from the motorway that runs alongside the Jungle.
The mural includes an interactive QR code that links to a YouTube video that appears to show rubber bullets, teargas and water canons used against refugees during a police raid at the Jungle earlier this month.
Business Insider/Barbara Tasch
Last week, French authorities started bulldozing the part of the refugee camp that is closest to the motorway, in an attempt to try and stop people from sneaking into lorries driving to the
Over the weekend, one of Banksy's pieces in Calais, showing Steve Jobs as a refugee, carrying a computer in one hand and his belongings in the other, was vandalised.
The piece alludes to the fact that Jobs's father was a Syrian refugee from Homs who emigrated to the United States. The protective glass panel that had been placed over it was smashed and someone graffitied over it "Because it's worthless."
The Steve Job #mural by #Banksy painted in Calais #refugee camp has been vandalizedhttps://t.co/UcTlfFvJff#ArtNews pic.twitter.com/VCTevw3WAi
- WideWalls (@widewalls1) January 23, 2016
There are two other Banksy murals in northern France that allude to the plight of refugees.
One of them shows a child with a suitcase looking to Britain with a telescope on which a vulture is perched. The other is a version of Théodore Géricault's famous "Raft of the Medusa" painting, which shows a raft full of survivors who are waving to get the attention of what seems to be a cruise ship.
#Banksy highlights refugee crisis, harks back to The Raft of the Medusa. #art #arthistory https://t.co/GpPEByFvfA pic.twitter.com/Df5eNEEhMY
- Art History Abroad (@AHAcourses) December 14, 2015