The child migrant, from Eritrea, was injured during an evacuation operation last Thursday, a spokesman for the Boulogne-sur-Mer prosecutor’s office said, adding an investigation had been launched by the Inspector General of Police (IGPN) into the incident.
The spokesman said: “The IGPN investigation will focus on the injury sustained by the young migrant in order to determine who was at fault: migrants or police.”
The local prosecutor’s office said doctors believed the injury had been caused “either by a rubber bullet or a tear gas grenade,” but refused to elaborate further.
More than 100 illegal immigrants and 50 law enforcement were involved in the violent scuffle, which erupted after the migrants tried to stop police from dismantling their newly-built camp and destroying their tents.
Three other migrants and two riot police officers were also injured in the clashes, during which rocks were hurled and tear gas was fired.
Calais remains a magnet for hundreds of young people determined to reach the UK, and few have been deterred by French President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to crack down on illegal immigration.
However many migrants also try their luck in neighbouring Belgium, a more discreet back door into Britain now that French officials have tightened security measures in Calais.
A UK-bound migrant died on Monday night after he was hit by a car on a motorway in Jabekke, a town located near the northern Belgian port of Ostend.
Belgian interior minister Jan Jambon told the Flemish television channel VRT: “It’s a regrettable incident, but police were just doing their job and the migrant’s death is not their fault. Everyone knows that crossing a motorway is dangerous.”
According to the Flemish daily Nieuwsblad, the migrant was hiding from police in a bush near a motorway rest area when he was discovered by sniffer dogs. He was fatally struck by a car as he attempted to flee the scene.