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Eyewitness: Visit to the 'Jungle' in Calais

  • Jo Siedlecka

Bible class in the Jungle church

Bible class in the Jungle church

On Saturday, I visited the 'Jungle' in Calais with Ben Bano from the charity Seeking Sanctuary and Barbara Kentish from Westminster Justice & Peace. Archbishop Peter Smith from Southwark and Bishop Trevor Wilmott from Dover were there for the day and issued a joint official statement with Most Rev Jean-Paul Jaeger Bishop of Arras . (see: ICN 20 September 2015 - English and French Church leaders issue statement on Calais refugees www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=28350)

Set a couple of miles outside the town, on a stretch of derelict land, this place is home to about 3,000 refugee men, women and children, mainly from Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Palestine and Darfur. After driving through the quiet seaside town and green fields it was a shock to pass under a bridge and suddenly notice it was lined with dozens of limpet-like tents - then into the open where there were muddy paths leading every which way - through a ramshackled collection of makeshift huts, tents and polythene shelters, and piles and piles of rubbish.

We got out and joined hundreds of foreign visitors milling about with the refugees in a central area where there was a stage on a truck with music playing for the 'Refugee Welcome' Day of Action' - making it feel like a slightly surreal music festival. The campaigners soon set off for Calais, carrying banners and signs. but we stayed behind to take a walk round. The only water supply in the camp seems to be a standpipe. People were waiting in a long queue to wash and fill up bottles. I noticed just eight portaloos.

Our first stop was the beautiful little church, made from wood and tent materials. We had to take off our shoes to go in. The floor was covered in carpets and there were holy pictures, icons and statues on the walls. In one corner, a group of Eritrean women and girls in their white church headscarves, were sitting quietly in a Bible study class. It was such a contrast to the chaos outside.

Back on the path we talked with several young men - from Syria and Iraq mainly. One told me he had lost his family in the bombing. "Its much better here" he said. "No bombs. But I would like to go to England."

These people have fled war and violence that we can only imagine - but at the moment few people are asking what happened to them and life in the Jungle can't be easy either.

A priest told me that he heard some tragic stories that afternoon. One boy told him he felt afraid in the camp because there were rivalries between different groups. The day before, he said, there had been a fatal stabbing -he had seen the blood still there on the ground.

It was very muddy walking along and we had to jump over many puddles. In several places the patches of water were yards wide. One older man had built himself a shack on what he called his 'island'. A few people had set up little businesses selling food and drinks. At the end of one path we found the Jules Ferry Centre, funded by the EU with volunteers from Secours Catholicque. Surrounded by a brick wall, this is a place where we were told, 50 refugee women and children live. The centre has a clinic run by a nurse, and also gives the refugees a meal once a day, between 7 and 9pm. I understand people start queuing in the afternoon. The clothing store is open once a week. A boy guarding the entrance wouldn't let us in.

Apart from the centre, there seemed to be no other official structures or services in place.

Ben Bano and his wife Marie-Claude set up Seeking Sanctuary a year ago, collecting much-needed clothing and other supplies for Secours Catholicque. Ben said: "Things were slow to start with but since July, we have been inundated with donations. One great thing thing about this project is that its truly ecumenical. Its taken the dispossessed to bring us together."

Liberation magazine report that as a reaction to the anti-migrant campaign led by the British tabloids this summer, charities in Ireland and the UK have been very generous to the Jungle. But as a result, volunteers at Secours Catholicque, who have the job of sorting and distributing donations, have been struggling to cope. Three weeks ago, a column of 150 cyclists coming from London to the Jungle gave all its bicycles to the refugees, and left on foot. This summer, 40 members of the Cork-Calais Refugee Solidarity group arrived, with two five-ton lorries, seven trucks, six cars, a camper-van, and a minibus, all full to overflowing. Some groups have given supplies to the centre. Others have just come along and handed out stuff - creating tensions and situations where the weakest are likely to get left out.

Many commentators have said the whole place needs much better organisation and supervision. If there had been a earthquake, or other disaster wouldn't the UN and emergency services have rushed in more quickly? From the possibility of violence, to the spread of disease, or fire, many things could go wrong in such an ungoverned place.

I understand that this week, Philip Sutherland is coming from the UN High Commission for Refugees to inspect the camp. I hope they can organise things better before the cold weather sets in.

(Thanks to Barbara Kentish for translation of the Liberation article which I quoted above.)

For more information on Seeking Sanctuary, visit: http://seekingsanctuary.weebly.com/ email: migrantsupport@aol.com or call: 07887 651117 or 01474 873802

See also: ICN 20 September 2015 - English and French Church leaders issue statement on Calais refugees www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=28350)

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