Razing half a camp with bulldozers, flanked by riot police is not a solution Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has said as the French government was given the green light to plan to clear part of the Calais migrant camp known as the ‘Jungle’.
This situation is a heart-breaking symptom of a wider human humanitarian disaster in the Middle East. Razing half a camp with bulldozers, flanked by riot police is not a solution.
Moving people from a tent to a shipping container will have very little impact. The families I met in Calais were people and families from places like Iraq and Syria fleeing war and instability. These people are trying to look for a place of peace where they can make a new life for them and their family, at least until it’s safe enough to return home. These measures will not help one jot to deal with the issue.
In the camp it is estimated that there are around 300 unaccompanied children. The UK government should do the right thing and urgently act to identify children with family in Britain and offer them refuge immediately.
I call for assurances that these refugees will be treated humanely, rather than as criminals, and for the French authorities to set out a long term, sustainable plan for them. Without these answers it is more likely these desperate people will head back to the channel tunnel and attempt deadly crossings once again.
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