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Seeking Sanctuary - update on Calais refugees


Image from the demolish Jungle Eritrean Church

Image from the demolish Jungle Eritrean Church

Phil Kerton and Ben Bano from Seeking Sanctuary send this latest report on the situation in Calais.

We have both made recent trips to deliver much-needed goods collected by a number of Church Communities. A very generous donation from a church in North London enabled Ben to distribute €1,000 to Secours Catholique and to the Catholic Worker House which is doing such vital work in protecting vulnerable migrants in Calais.

All the reports we heard point to the fact that the crisis in Calais has not gone away - it has merely gone underground. Estimates vary but it is thought that between 200 and 800 people have newly arrived or have left the CAO centres to which they were transported in various locations across France, and have returned to Calais. Here, they are eking out a fragile existence in disused warehouses, in fields and ditches and in other spots where they cannot be seen - since otherwise they risk arrest by the Police who are still very active. The warm clothes in our little bags of love and hope have been particularly welcome in the recent freezing temperatures, forming part of the aid which is being distributed discreetly from vans by volunteers, often under cover of darkness

Many unaccompanied minors are also present in Calais, having left the centres to which they were taken in November, often in remote areas of France, and returned to Calais, hoping to join their friends and get to England. Many of these youngsters have lost hope of being resettled by officials. This is not surprising as the UK is only considering those nationalities who had recorded a high percentage of success in initial applications for asylum during the year ending June 2016. Faulty guidance for Eritrea was in use during that period, so that their success rate was poor, with the result that they are not considered for transfer here to receive sanctuary. Consequently they are trying their chances in Calais in dangerous and freezing conditions. We also hear disturbing reports about the the situation in Paris where the number of places in the official shelters is nowhere near enough to match the need and hence many hundreds of migrants are having to brave the cold and freezing conditions on the streets. The warehouses in Calais are delivering much needed supplies to Paris and further afield.

The demand for humanitarian aid is as high as ever - especially for warm clothes, sleeping bags and food. During just one week in mid-January, the warehouse run by "Help Refugees" and Auberge des Migrants distributed 5000 items to the severely fire-damaged women and children's centre in the Dunkirk camp, 3000 in Paris, 1915 to people in Dunkirk, and 160 more via night patrols around Calais. Like the Care4Calais warehouse, they are desperate for more donations and for more volunteer helpers. You can find out more about how to respond here - www.calaidipedia.co.uk/how-to-help

The risk now is that people forget the plight of those in need, and so we have to step up our work to publicise the situation. At a time when Trump, Brexit and related narratives further stigmatise migrants and asylum seekers, we must keep asking politicians and decision-makers about why they fail to honour earlier commitments - in particular, in the light of the numerous successful appeals by Eritreans against initial refusals based on faulty guidelines.

We will continue to advocate alongside other agencies and organisations who are fighting for just treatment of exiles of all nationalities. We are also delighted that our recent Christmas card sales raised £1,000 and that the icon appearing on the cards has been rescued, with others. They will be making their way to Orthodox churches in London and Paris, which will provide them with a fitting setting.

Thank you for your support.

Ben + Phil.

Read more about Seeking Sanctuary here: http://seekingsanctuary.weebly.com/

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