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“The government has made the situation for refugees in France much easier to ignore” Student Bridget Taylor heads back to Calais to see how refugee life has changed since the demolition of the ‘jungle’

By Bridget Taylor

The camp in Calais known as ‘the Jungle’ has been demolished for nearly two months now. The majority of the inhabitants were dispersed into welcome and orientation centres, known as CAOs, across France, and, out of the 1900 registered as living there, 750 children were accepted into Britain. It would seem then as though the situation for refugees who were living in Northern France has improved. They are no longer living in tents and rickety wooden structures, they are being provided for, they are not sleeping rough in the cold…

This outward image of security, however, is one of the most likely reasons that the camp was initially demolished. The French government may have appeared to perform an act of kindness; even if the final days of the camp were chaotic, conditions for the people living there were inhumane. In reality though, the camp offered some small amount of protection and legitimacy. Now the government has made the situation for refugees in France much easier to ignore, as there is no longer a focal point for the world’s media, and so the way they are being treated is out of the public consciousness. It has in no way solved the refugee crisis, which governments across Europe are continuing to ignore, and which will continue as long as the horrors in Syria continue. Their actions haven’t even moderated the crisis. It has simply forced refugees deeper underground.

Recently, I went on another Convoy to Calais to visit the charity Care4Calais and gain a better understanding of what the situation on the ground is like there now. Although the camp’s residents were all supposed to have been removed to the CAOs, there are still many refugees living in and around Calais or sleeping rough on the streets of Paris. Some are still trying to enter the UK. This could be for several reasons, such as that they have family in Britain and are trying to reach them, that they are more likely to speak the language, or that the police brutality and hostility they have experienced since arriving in France means they do not feel safe there. There is also still a camp at Dunkirk.

Whilst there, we heard a report of how the wooden shelters that had been put up to house refugees were covered in black mold, as they weren’t designed to cope with the damp and cold weather. This is having a hugely negative impact on the health of the people living there, including one child whose foot had become infected and turned septic from walking across the bare wooden floor.

For those that have gone to the CAOs, the conditions vary widely. Some places are welcoming and have proper facilities, others are not providing for refugees’ basic needs. We heard about three centres in the Alps which weren’t supplying any winter clothing; others where there were no kitchen facilities and they were only supplying one meal a day. Even in the better CAOs, refugees are still left isolated and not integrated into French society. They are given four weeks to start their asylum application in France, if they do not they are removed from the reception centre and are at risk of being deported.

For those outside the CAOs, the situation is horrific. There is a heavy police presence in Calais, and we heard reports of refugees being arrested and detained without being given any information or a proper translation of the information they need, so they have no knowledge of their rights. The police will also stop and detain anyone that they consider looks like a refugee, which means that they are racially profiling ‘suspects’. There are still refugees living in small camps in the area around Calais. Even though the existence of the major Calais camp was tenuous, it did offer a small amount of security. Now, if the police come across one of these camps they are immediately shut down, and the refugees living there are likely to be detained. Instead of being supported to claim asylum, refugees are being criminalised.

There has also been a huge increase in the numbers sleeping rough in Paris, where another makeshift camp has sprung up because the official centre for refugees there can’t cope with the demand. This unofficial camp lacks facilities and refugee charities working on the ground are in urgent need of supplies such as warm clothing, tents and sleeping bags.

As we left Calais, we passed the 2-mile long razor wire fence that the French and British governments have erected along the border, and watched soldiers checking vehicles going across. At the same time, hundreds of child refugees in France, expecting to come to the UK, have had their asylum claims rejected by the Home Office. This crisis is not going away, instead of co-operating to keep people out, the UK should be working with the French government to allow safe passage and give security to those who need it.

If you want to find out more about the situation and how you can help, visit the Care4Calais Facebook page
or www.calaidipedia.co.uk

If you want to get involved in campaigning work here in Manchester, visit the  Manchester Students Stand up to Racism Facebook page