FRENCH authorities launched a probe on Thursday into a case of police violence against two refugees in Calais.

The investigation follows a complaint by a migrants rights organisation.

The prosecutor’s office in Boulogne-sur-Mer opened the investigation into “possible violence committed by people holding public authority” in Calais in August, after the incident was reported by campaigners from Human Rights Observers (HRO).

“We had sent a letter to the prosecutor to find and punish the perpetrators,” an HRO activist said on Twitter.

The Inspectorate General of the National Police of Lille has been tasked with investigating the violence against two refugees by the police officials from the Compagnies Republicaines de Securite (CRS) riot police.

According to the HRO, on the night of August 22-23, a group of Eritrean migrants entered a parking lot of a service station in Calais hoping to smuggle themselves on a lorry to the Britain. 

All but two 18-year-old migrants left promptly upon spotting a vehicle belonging to the CRS in the parking lot.

HRO said about seven CRS police took them to a street without CCTV cameras, “kicked them in the face” and “on the ground.”

The police left laughing, leaving the two injured people on the ground. The medical reports of the victims showed fractures and bleeding of the nasal bridge, heart palpation, chest pain, and scrotal pain.