"Life goes on... SALAM goes on... The work of informing [and] denouncing goes on..." With these sad words, the SALAM charity began its daily report on the dismantling of migrant camps in Calais, northern France, on Friday, July 12. Every day, the authors send an email listing the number of tents seized by police along the northern French coast, and the number of people displaced.

Earlier that day, the charity had to announce the death of its president, Jean-Claude Lenoir, a local figure committed to helping migrants. Aged 72, he collapsed at the wheel of a van on July 11. His vehicle fell into a canal in Calais. "Jean-Claude fell into the water with his van and drowned. Probably a heart attack. Too early to say anything other than our sorrow," wrote Claire Millot, SALAM's general secretary.

On July 12, a tribute was organized near the site where the van crashed. Campaigners linked it to the tribute paid to the four people who had drowned the previous night off Boulogne-sur-Mer, attempting to reach the United Kingdom in a makeshift inflatable boat.

Lenoir was one of the founding members of SALAM, known for organizing meal distributions in the camps of Calais and Grande-Synthe, and which now has some 300 members. "It was originally a movement of citizens who didn't want to leave people outside. At the time of the Sangatte camp, Jean-Claude was cooking rice on a gas tripod in his garage," recalled Millot.

In 2004, Lenoir was convicted by the Boulogne-sur-Mer court of "supporting the residence of undocumented persons" for having housed some migrants in his home after the closure of the Sangatte camp at the end of 2002. However, he was exempted from receiving a sentence, as the court found that he and another activist on trial had served a humanitarian cause. Lenoir said at the time: "As of tomorrow, we'll be out in the field full time, and we'll continue to do so in full view of everyone."

Although he had spent less time in the camps in recent years, Lenoir used to regularly share his "rants" by email with all the association's members. Against the backdrop of the Rassemblement National's lead in the European elections on June 9, he recently wrote: "Hypocrisy. We've never stopped warning! Harassment around the clock, demolition of every last shelter, racial profiling. In fact, sowing the seeds of intolerance of others, carefully cultivating this sad culture. It's hypocrisy to pretend to be astonished, to act as if revolted. We've never stopped warning! We will continue to claim that our Republic is about fraternity!"

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