Calais: New Year letter from Seeking Sanctuary

Quiet moment as Eritrean women and children study Bible in camp chapel. Pic ICN

Seeking Sanctuary is a small Kent-based organisation promoting awareness of migrant and refugees near our shores and providing humanitarian assistance to those at the 'Jungle' in Calais.

2015 has passed by with no sign of significant improvements to the situation in Calais. There has been an amazing increase in the number residing near the town. Official figures put the population at just under 1000 in July 2014, and this more than doubled by November, remaining below about 2500 until June 2015. A further1000 arrived by September and then mushroomed again to at least 6000.

Conditions were dire when a "Day of Solidarity" took place on 19 September and the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Migration visited on 20 September. The number of toilets was woefully inadequate and they were rarely emptied, with the same story told of the few rubbish skips - and that goes without mention of the scarcity of fresh water points. Pollution and endemic diseases were already noted.

A court order issued on 2 November obliged the authorities to improve conditions somewhat, but an appeal delayed the start on most action until well into December, whilst other measures have often added up to "too little, too late". The addition of quasi-permanent shelters for just 1500 souls will not be completed until later this month and the winter weather has damaged fragile dwellings, fanned flames from accidental fires and transformed most paths into muddy quagmires.

The zone is not an officially declared refugee camp, but merely an area where undocumented residents are tolerated by the authorities. Hence, apart from limited medical aid, major international aid agencies have no role in its management. Small local groups and self-organised volunteers from within France and from other nations have learned "on the job" how to coordinate work - but without always convincing all visitors to cooperate fully.

It is heartening to know that, just from the UK, there are scores of volunteers spending weeks and months on the ground and arranging better supplies of food and dwellings, along with a first aid post and continuing distributions of donated clothes, shoes and bedding - much of it bought brand new from generous supporters. At weekends they are joined by hundreds more, most of them making constructive efforts to improve conditions. The camp has some more solid roads allowing emergency access, a quantity of places of worship, language schools, a library, solar-powered WiFi zones, various shops, restaurants, bars and other businesses. In particular there is a dome structure providing a space to gather for meetings and for drama and concerts. In more recent months a noticeable number of families have arrived and there is provision for children's' activities and shelter for toddlers, mothers and expectant mothers to get together.

Some 1800 are said to have agreed to apply for asylum in France and have been accommodated elsewhere in France, having abandoned plans to cross the Channel. Something like 1500 individuals have been forcibly removed to remote locations in daily batches of about 50, to be imprisoned for a few days before appearing in court on various charges. To date, almost every case has been thrown out by the courts and people are set free to return to Calais (in the vast majority of cases): inter-Ministerial discussions are proposed in January to try to reach a common approach to these cases from police and judges. Alongside this, armed riot police patrol the approaches to the camp, making occasional forays to the interior and harassing visitors. Of late there are reports of more or less random tear-gas attacks among the tents and shelters, accompanied by a blind eye turned in the direction of extremist and often violent demonstrators. All these actions are officially reported to have reduced the number in the "jungle" itself to around 4000 - though all repeat visitors still report far more overcrowding than was the case a few months back. Meantime, numbers surviving in even more squalid conditions at Grande-Synthe, near Dunkirk, have mushroomed from below 200 in summer 2015 to at least 2400 today.

We have been fortunate in recent months in linking donations with distributors. Fpr example, 2500 teddy bears have gone from Ellesmere Port to countries bordering Syria; half a dozen heavy-duty ex-Scout tents are en route from the West Midlands to Northern France; proceeds from a collection at the annual carol service of the University of Kent Chaplaincies in Canterbury Cathedral have been directed to causes that we have proposed, alongside some other donations from individuals and events. And this, of course, goes alongside the continuing fruits of exploratory visits that we have advised a number of groups about, and the vital contribution to these visits from our Calais volunteer contact, Dominique.

In continuing work into 2016 we can confirm that goods are needed in Calais and elsewhere, as well as cash and offers of voluntary services. Alongside efforts by others, Secours Catholique continues visits to the camp to confirm the needs of residents and distribute aid (some using a van funded by UK donations). It also runs considerable other projects in and around Calais, including a drop-in Day Centre in the town where people can get to know one another; accompaniment for asylum applicants in France; language lessons; cycle loans to help with the 5km journey into town; joint initiatives with others to try to ensure that the state takes due care of the most vulnerable.

The organisation's "Migrants' Wardrobe" in the town cannot operate for the time being due to a planning dispute with the municipality. While this is the case, we can put people who organise collections in touch with other warehouses that are fully operational and with their lists of current requirements - and subsequently with organisations who can arrange to transport donations across the Channel.

With best wishes for 2016 and thanks for all your past support.

Phil + Ben.

For more information see: http://seekingsanctuary.weebly.com/