The Calais jungle is the nickname given to a series of camps[citation needed] in the vicinity of Calais, France, where migrants live while they attempt to enter the United Kingdom by stowing away on lorries, ferries, cars, or trains travelling through the Port of Calais or the Eurotunnel Calais Terminal. The migrants are a mix of refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants from Darfur, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Eritrea and other troubled areas of the world.
Contents
Location and conditions
The "jungle" has no fixed location with migrants setting up camp wherever they can using waste or unoccupied land and moving to new locations when camps are closed down by the French authorities. Others live in squats in abandoned buildings. In April 2015, The Guardian reported that the "official" and principal "jungle" in Calais was located at a former landfill site, three miles from the centre of town, and occupied by 1,000 of the 1,500 migrants in Calais. According to the paper, it was one of nine camps then existing in Calais. This jungle for the first time had showers, electricity and toilets, plus one hot meal served per day, but without proper accommodation.[1]
Conditions in the other camps are poor, typically without proper sanitary or washing facilities and accommodation consisting of tents and improvised shelters. Food is supplied by charity soup kitchens. The French authorities have faced a dilemma of addressing a humanitarian needs without making attracting additional migrants.[2]
The jungle is located in a Seveso zone (regulated by Directive 82/501/EC).[3]
History
A Red Cross Reception Centre named Sangatte was opened near the Port of Calais in 1999 but rapidly became overcrowded.[4] The original "jungle" was established in the woods around the Port after Sangatte was closed in November 2002 by Nicolas Sarkozy, then French Minister of the Interior.[2][5] There were riots in 2001 and 2002, the year Sangatte closed.[4]
In an April 2009 raid on a migrant camp, the French authorities arrested 190 and used bulldozers to destroy tents, but by July 2009 a new camp had been established which the BBC estimated had 800 inhabitants.[2]
In a dawn raid in September 2009, the French authorities closed down a camp occupied by 700–800 migrants. 276 people, mainly Afghans, were detained.[6][7]
The current mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart threatened in September 2014 to block the port because, although it was an illegal action and would bring down upon her lawsuits and opprobrium, she thought it would send a "strong message" to the UK authorities.[4]
In September 2014, The Guardian estimated that there were 1,300 migrants in Calais, mostly from Eritrea, Somalia and Syria.[4] In July 2015, The Telegraph reported that the current jungle had 3,000 inhabitants.[8]
In 2015, number of non-European migrants transiting by Calais is estimated at 6,000.[clarification needed][9]
Migrants
The migrants in Calais are mostly young men of non-European origin, made up of a mix of refugees, asylum seekers and economic migrants from Darfur, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Eritrea and other troubled areas of the world. There are also some women and children. The mix of nationalities has changed over time with Afghans being the largest group initially but by 2014 more people seen from the Horn of Africa and Sudan.[10] They mostly seek to enter the British labour market to work illegally rather than claim asylum in France,[2][4] though the number claiming asylum has risen since the procedures were revised in 2014.[1]
Many of the migrants have paid people smugglers to get them to Calais.[2] One migrant from Egypt, a politics graduate, told The Guardian that he "paid $3,000 to leave Egypt, risked my life on a boat to Italy spending days at sea" and that in one month he had tried 20 times to reach England. Another, an Eritrean woman with a one-year-old child, had paid £1,825 - and her husband the same - to sail to Italy, but her husband had drowned during the journey.[1] Migrants also risk their lives when they try to climb aboard or travel on lorries, sometimes falling off and breaking bones or dying in accidents or en route. The camps themselves are also dangerous, particularly for women, with a volatile mix of desperate young men of different nationalities, drinking, and violence.[1][11]
According to Médecins du Monde, about 62% of those people are men,[12] and the mean age is about 33.
Nonetheless most of them do not speak french language.[13]
Facilities
Although this camp is worse than many camps existing in Africa, according to Médecins sans frontière, in this zone, people have some access to water, including some showers,[13] but there is no drinking water.[14]
Some food is also given to people, and heater is considered to fight against the cold weather.
In this zone, there is no toilets. There is few food. shower s available in not more than six hours queue.[14]
Health
In this zone, health is not so good, and many people are hurt at the hands and at the foots. They also suffer for the cold weather.[13]
Care service are offered by Médecins du Monde and Médecins sans frontières.
According to UK charity HRF, people in this zone are healthy.[15]
People are also hurted at head, and teath.[14]
Doctors and dentists are coming from all over the UK.[14]
People
In this zone there are many people migrants from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq.[16]
Economy
In the zone exist some African style restaurants and some prostitutions places.[13]
Governmental action
To solve this issue, government action is guided by the treaty of Touquet on 4 February 2003, signed by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. With this treaty, the government is committed to halt illegal immigration to the UK.[17]
See also
- Channel Tunnel § Asylum and immigration
- Immigration to France
- Modern immigration to the United Kingdom
- List of border crossing points in France
- Demographics of the United Kingdom
- Migrants around Calais
- Juxtaposed controls
- Schengen Agreement
References
- ^ a b c d 'At night it's like a horror movie' – inside Calais's official shantytown. Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, 6 April 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Migrant squalor in Calais 'jungle'. Emma-Jane Kirby, BBC News, 2 July 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ La « jungle » de Calais est majoritairement située en zone Seveso http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2015/10/19/la-jungle-de-calais-est-majoritairement-situee-en-zone-seveso_4792559_3224.html
- ^ a b c d e Calais mayor threatens to block port if UK fails to help deal with migrants. Natacha Bouchart, The Guardian, 3 September 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
- ^ lemonde.fr: "La conquête méthodique du pouvoir", 7 mai 2007
- ^ Dawn raid on Calais "Jungle". The Connexion, 22 September 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ French police round up 200 migrants in Calais swoop. Agence France-Presse, 21 Apr 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ Calais crisis: Bicycle repair shops, mosques and an Orthodox church - the town where migrants wait to cross to Britain. Rory Mulholland, The Telegraph, 5 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ^ La "jungle" de Calais inquiète les autorités http://www.boursorama.com/actualites/la-jungle-de-calais-inquiete-les-autorites-1bf9a17a6b9b43374995de085d49eff9
- ^ Calais 'Jungle': Migrants hit dead end in journey to UK. Fergal Keane, BBC News, 9 October 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ At least 15 migrants died in 'shameful' Calais conditions in 2014. Matthew Taylor and Guy Grandjean, The Guardian, 23 December 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ Accès aux soins: Médecins du Monde alerte sur la situation des migrants http://www.nordeclair.fr/france-monde/acces-aux-soins-medecins-du-monde-alerte-sur-la-jna0b0n897938
- ^ a b c d Calais, la jungle, une médecin mayennaise témoigne http://lamayenneonadore.fr/main/2015/10/19/calais-la-jungle-une-medecin-mayennaise-temoigne/
- ^ a b c d Cardiff dentist helps to treat refugees in Calais http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-34555390
- ^ UK charity considers cutting off aid for the ‘Jungle’ at Calais after visiting the camp and deciding most migrants had no real reason to leave their home country http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3262220/UK-charity-considers-cutting-aid-Jungle-Calais-visiting-camp-deciding-migrants-no-real-reason-leave-home-country.html
- ^ Calais, la jungle, une médecin mayennaise témoigne http://lamayenneonadore.fr/main/2015/10/19/calais-la-jungle-une-medecin-mayennaise-temoigne
- ^ What is Britain doing to help the Calais migrant crisis? http://www.france24.com/en/20151021-france-cazeneuve-calais-jungle-britain-role-resolving-refugee-migrant-crisis
External links
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