My Week Among Refugees Lost in the 'Jungle'

---

Local resident Clare Burnett reports from Calais and explains how you can help

I have just spent a week in Calais in the 'jungle' (so called by those who are there) working with children, holding conversation classes with teenagers and young men and being a taxi for various volunteers and refugees. 

It is in a large landfill site next to the motorway and near the ferry port.  It is divided into two. The North Side is full of makeshift shelters, tents, caravans and some white shipping containers sleeping eight people each. There is a main street with makeshift restaurants, shops and a soup kitchen. The South Side looks like a ploughed field.  This is because the French police cleared it a couple of weeks ago leaving only a small school, a library, the Eritrean Church and the Youth Centre.  Many other services, such as the Women and Children’s area, the Legal centre, another school and the vaccination centre were destroyed and have had to move or cease to operate.

The South half of the ‘Jungle’ now barren but previously full of shelters, services and a busy main street.  The Eritrean Church, youth centre and library in the distance.

A census conducted by the charity, Help Refugees shows there are currently 4946 refugees in the Calais camp.  514 of these are children of whom 294 are unaccompanied.  The youngest of these unaccompanied children is eight and their average age is 14.2 .  There is no official system for registering, monitoring or safeguarding them. Before demolishing the Southern part of the jungle it seems the French authorities failed to put any systems in place to protect them.  Since the demolition an additional 129 unaccompanied children are unaccounted for. 129 – more than four classes of children. Read more about the census here .

I met a few of the unaccompanied children – a young boy who had lost his voice because of tear gas which is sprayed into the camp most nights – a new experience for me, it smells acrid and makes your eyes stream and your throat hurt; a 14 year old desperate to be reunited with his family in the UK but waiting for a grindingly slow UK system to process his claim; two gorgeous, bright-eyed, cricket-loving 11 year olds ready to chat to anyone, extremely vulnerable as they walk around the camp with no-one to look after them; a 16 year old whose father is in the UK but, as yet, has been unable to join him.

The week before I went Yvette Cooper had been there, and whilst I was there the English and French Children’s Commissioners came so hopefully they will be able to do something about this unbelievably unsatisfactory situation.  I know they helped find an 11 year old boy who was lost for a few days last week and turned up in Kent.  This was at the same time as a 17 year old boy from the nearby Dunkirk camp died under a lorry trying to reach his family in.England.

You can sign a petition to try and get the government to speed up the process for children.  My MP Andy Slaughter has written to the Minister for Immigration who says the children must initiate the procedure of applying for asylum themselves in France - a tall ask of a young child who doesn't speak the language.  

For families the camp is very hard.  Many arrive after their long journey with nothing but the clothes they wear. Volunteers try and get them a caravan if one is free and get clothes for them.  I met one family with a pregnant mother who had just arrived with nothing but what they were wearing.  The volunteers went up to the warehouse and found them shoes and bedding.  I took another pregnant woman in my car who was having contractions at 25 weeks with twins.  I have read on my return that tear gas can be harmful in pregnancy and hope this wasn't the cause.

The few thousand refugees and migrants are a tiny proportion of the thousands of refugees who arrived in Europe last year (good BBC page of facts here).  Many have links to the UK but few safe and legal options to claim asylum in Calais.  I didn’t realise that, in most cases, it is only possible to claim asylum once you are in the UK and the only way to get there is by trying to get across the channel (because of the Dublin 111 agreement).

The British Red Cross claims the majority of those at Calais are genuine asylum seekers who are fleeing war and persecution.and has called for safer and legal routes for them, such as humanitarian visas, claiming asylum at embassies or expanding the scope of existing resettlement schemes. As this is currently not in place their only solution is to try to get across by jumping on lorries or boats - dangerous for them and dangerous generally as they try and get on lorries that back up on the motorway.  The people of Calais understandably are unhappy, and the French government seems to have devolved responsibility to this, a relatively poor area of France.  There are regular attacks by the National Front but equally I met some wonderful French volunteers doing all they can to help.

The younger children I worked with were just like any children here yet these bright, sparky primary age children are getting minimal education compared to what they need and are ready for.  There is a primary schoolroom in the Ecole Laique des Dunes set up by an amazing French woman and an early years/primary area in the Women and Children's space but their capacity is limited and many are not confident enough to attend.  The teenagers are getting a bit of English and French but not a proper education. The French and English volunteers do a wonderful job trying to reach as many as they can but few are long-term and everyone else comes and goes. 

The young men I met – mostly in their late teens and early twenties  - have such a hard time away from home.  Most nights they try to get over to England. On my first day there was an extraordinary moment when hundreds of people ran out of their tents and across the fields towards the motorway.  There was a traffic jam and they were trying to get into the lorries.  I saw men climbing over motorway bridges, opening lorry doors (they can often get in but someone else needs to close the door) and being pushed back and chased by police.  Tear gas was fired into the camp.  I managed to leave, with my eyes streaming, but one of my colleagues was stuck there until 7am, hiding first in a shop with some children, then outside when a tear gas capsule was thrown into it. 

In the day quite a few attend English and French lessons given by volunteers although this is harder now the Southern area is destroyed.  Also there are queues for showers ,and queues for distributions of essentials for those with no funds, so their attendance is erratic and the long walk across the empty patch of land, with police looking on from all sides, is daunting.  I spent a couple of days talking to them, hearing of their extraordinary tales of walking from Afghanistan or through Africa, coming from Turkey on boats where people died, travelling from Libya to Sicily and in lorries, cars and trains across the continent, as well as discussing sport, religion, relationships, archaeology, women’s rights, food and music.   Anyone with older teenagers will know that being 18 is not the same as being an adult and these lovely young men are seriously lacking the family and community support they need. 

The week was not at all what I expected.  I thought I'd be a little scared in the Jungle, but instead I was more unsettled by the police as I tried to get in.  I hadn’t expected to come away so disappointed with how both the French and UK governments are treating vulnerable children, and I hadn’t expected to be so welcomed and to have such incredibly interesting conversations with the people I met.
 
Here is a link to an extremely thorough piece of research conducted in February about the people in the camp and their lives there.  

If you would like to help

Care4Calais and  Help Refugees are the best place to start both for volunteering and donating. Once you're on site they will introduce people to other groups to use specific skills and direct donations appropriately. 

For an overview of all the different groups and information visit Calaid-ipedia.   Many organisations are small so check their facebook pages as information changes regularly and some are not operating at the moment because of the South side destruction.  

Whatever you do you will need to be flexible and not mind if you don’t actually go into the camp.  If you go into the camp please take careful note of any advice about safety and don't stay after dark.  Also please be aware that taking photos and video of people can affect their asylum claim and that the children are vulnerable and, as is the case here, should not be photographed without prior permission from parents.

Dunkirk also has a refugee camp, newly built by the Green mayor of Dunkirk to UN standards.  You can go to Help Refugees who also serve the Dunkirk camp, or volunteer directly with the French charity Utopia 56.

Donate – Both Help Refugees who run a warehouse with l’Auberge des Migrants and Care4Calais. They prefer money, direct deliveries from suppliers or bulk deliveries of one thing rather than vanloads of lots of different stuff that needs sorting.  Lots of people send stuff for children and women but they are the minority in the camp so best to read the list or, even better, donate money.  Cricket bats (especially adult ones) are welcome as the Afghan boys and men play a lot of cricket and volleyball and football are popular.

Volunteer (many people can come for a few days but the most valuable people are those who can stay at least a couple of weeks) There is a lot of lift sharing but a car is useful as everything is a bit inaccessible.  The youth hostel in Calais has a reduced rate for volunteers.
It took me a while to work out where I could best help, especially as a lot has changed in the last few weeks with the destruction of half the camp.  I am sure other people will have different experiences but this is what I gleaned.

I planned my visit at the last minute and found it hard to get through to the right people. I realise now that is because these small organisations are stretched and volunteers are working all day so have little time to check emails. For most volunteering the best thing is to sign up here (Help Refugees) or here (Care4Calais) turn up for the 9 o'clock briefing and ask if your skills are useful but be happy to sort donations if they are not.  Care4Calais is a smaller charity so you may get more variety, but you probably need a car to get there as it is further away.

Sorting and Distribution: The easiest way to volunteer is to help with sorting and distribution at the Help Refugees warehouse.  You turn up at 9 for a daily briefing, sign a form and are given tasks.  The atmosphere is fun and it is full of lovely, friendly people. Tea and food are provided.  Here is the first step – an online form to complete.
 
Cooking  Calais Kitchens - start at Help Refugees and they will tell you where to go – read more by clicking on Calais kitchens at Calaid-ipedia.

Building:  BuildinginCalaisjungle. Or turn up at Help Refugees.
 
Teaching:  Especially English as a Foreign Language, French teachers, Primary teachers. The women and children’s area ideally needs experienced early years/KS1 teachers who can stay for a while.  They need DBS checks. Contact through their Facebook page

Art In a recent survey residents told Care4Calais that they wanted more art activities.  Contact Care4Calais  as they may be taking art activities into the camp.  You will probably need to take what you need although I could talk you through what is there already.  There are no tables so quite simple activities or ones which can be done outside are probably best.  Get in touch with me if you’re interested.

Performance  There have been some successful performances by circus troupes and theatre groups so if you have a 'performance' of any kind this would probably be welcome as there is a lot of boredom.  Contact Good Chance.

I am sure youth work, interpreters or speakers of Arabic, Farsi, Pashtun and Kurd, medical and legal skills are useful but again Care4Calais and Help Refugees would be the best place to start for this.

Volunteering in this country

You can also volunteer to sort and help in this country.  Visit Help Refugees and Care4Calais Facebook pages as people often put up requests for help.

Clare Burnett

 

April 20, 2016