I visited the Calais Jungle a week ago, where around 4,000 people live in terribly squalid conditions. My trip was organised by staff from Lib Dem HQ, who had collected donations so we were able to distribute water, food and sanitary products.
It was a shocking experience to see the dreadful conditions people are living in. The Jungle is worse than a shanty town, with very few facilities.
There was no sign of water being provided and the people we met clutched gratefully the bottles we had transported. Shoes, clothes and dry foods were also in demand. Portable toilets are provided by aid organisations while the local authorities seem to turn a blind eye to the conditions in the camp, simply wishing it would go away. I was told the French authorities don’t provide any help apart from a Centre where mobile phones can be charged and a hot meal is available. If someone is badly injured the local hospital bandages them up.
I was also dismayed to hear that people who die in the camp are buried inside the camp. If true, this is both inhumane – no relative is likely to find out about the death of their loved one – and a health hazard. I was told three people had died the night before I arrived.
Winter is now fast approaching and one can only imagine the hardship and the awful conditions that await these refugees and would-be economic migrants.
The camp is made up of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. There are also economic migrants from Africa, India and Pakistan. I spoke to a range of people, each of a different background, each with a different story. They included a Fine Art student from Syria, refugees from Iraq, a child from Pakistan, and many others who have lost everything due to ISIS, the Syrian Civil War, or were fleeing poverty in their homelands.
I saw lots of teenage boys and men and very few women, with men outnumbering women 20 to 1. But mothers with babies are living in the camp too and it concerns me greatly that children are being brought up in this environment.
It is very hard to comprehend the conditions people are living in without seeing it first hand and I am very disappointed that so few politicians have visited the camp. This makes me incredibly proud to be following in the footsteps of my friend and our leader, Tim Farron, who was the first party leader to visit The Jungle in the summer.
My visit to Calais confirmed that a crisis as difficult as this one can only be resolved by working with other EU countries.
That is why I am extremely disappointed by our Government’s approach. As Tim said at conference, it is one of ‘‘careful calibration of what it will take to manage that story, the minimum effort for the maximum headlines’’. The Government should negotiate an EU relocation scheme which acknowledges the UK’s contribution to date and then accept more people.
I am proud to say that over the last few months, I have been overwhelmed by positive letters and comments from constituents and from people I have spoken to in Parliament and at conference. It is clear that many in the UK agree with our position.
They realise people are seeking to get to the UK out of sheer desperation or because of a burning desire to be re-united with family here. Not because of our benefits system.
To try and ensure our visit to Calais has a lasting legacy, I am writing to the authorities in Calais to discuss the burial of the deceased, rubbish collection, sanitation and clean water supply in the camps.
I will also be writing to the French Government to demand they provide healthcare, both medical and dental, for those in the camp.
There is no easy solution to this refugee and migrant crisis, but it will need to be a liberal, compassionate and fair one. Only the Liberal Democrats will be advocating this.
The thumbnail photo featured at the top of our home page for this article is of two young Syrian refugees by Syria Freedom Freedom House Flickr CCL
* Tom Brake was the Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington from 1997 to 2019.
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17 Comments
Genuine refugees do not get to pick and choose where they go, the rules say they need to claim assylum in the first safe country they enter. If those people have not claimed in France then they’re not playing by the rules, surely? Have they claimed asylum in France?
So proud that Tom Brake has not just been to see for himself what is happening, and taken times needed there, but done a good report back AND is taking action on some of the things that need attending to NOW, such as the burials and sanitation issues, as well as calling for the longer term permanent solutions needed.
thank you.
I am torn between being proud of the number of LibDems getting involved in this one and ashamed that it is needed.
Would it really do the UK harm to let these people in? If they have the energy to try this hard, they have the energy to contribute to the UK.
I fear that treating them this badly will build up resentment, and risks doing the UK real harm in the long term. And in the short term we are complicit in inhumane behaviour…
David Wallace, I would imagine because they probably all speak English and not French. That s what happens when you have the world’s common language.
@Mark argent
I’m sure it wouldn’t harm the UK to let them in. But don’t they need to claim asylum in France first? I heard that they were refusing to do this? Is that true does anyone know?
Good evening
Here we go again, emotional outburst again.
Wish people would stop and look at the facts. Many sitting in the camps surrounding Calais are not refugees but economic migrants. There is a difference is there not? Are we really saying anyone and everyone who wishes to travel to the UK should be allowed in.
Are you sure all those who took time out and delivered aid to the camp that their efforts was not a fruitless exercise?
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
I am speaking out yet again because I am brassed off being criticised by people who clearly have good intentions but fail to recognise the facts.
I welcome genuine refugees and yes, has a country we should play our part in offering genuine refugees a place of safety, but to extend this to everyone who sees the UK being their land of dreams cannot be right.
Posting for another reason to show others, the wider public, not everyone in our proud party is being overcome by narrow mind emotion.
This nation is playing their part. Here in Hampshire the Council are already have approximately 100 young children from the camps bordering Syria in their care with plans to take more. This nation is spending over £1 Billion in supporting refugees within Turkey, Lebanon and neighbouring states.
Be proud of what this country is doing, yes, we can do more, but to suggest the answer is, come on in, is shortsightedness……..in my opinion.
Thank you, Tom Brake, for going to the camp and for your requests to improve conditions for both the living and the dead there, However it is not enough to make improvements to the camp where the BMA has warned of a possible cholera outbreak. What is needed is some serious negotiation between Governments and the UNHCR , which should be very involved with this camp as well as the Middle Eastern ones. Why is the UK Government not allowing refugees there to be part of the UNHCR relocation schemes? Surely those who died last week were vulnerable enough to qualify.If this is deemed impossible, it would be sensible to at least begin the asylum process in the French camps and to grant those with a claim to at least humanitarian protection to come safely and legally into the UK. PQs and a civil society campaign on this specific issue are needed, please.
David, A large number have claimed asylum in France and why would not they? France has time limited immigration detention (45 days max.) and we do not (longest recent detention was 9 yrs – exceptional but true). Welfare benefits are better in France than in the UK. So why are 3,000 refugees in Calais so sure that they must get to the UK? Many speak English having been taught in school that this was the most important language for success. A considerable number do have relatives in the UK eg the 22yrs old civil engineering graduate I spoke about at Conference, who was trying to reach his brother in Birmingham when he died on a freight train. His brother had been granted asylum so it is likely that he would have been successful too but he was not allowed to make a claim. The UN Refugee Convention actually states that all have a legal right to claim asylum in the country of choice. The EU Dublin Agreement insists on that claim being made in the FIRST safe country but that is unworkable. How many refugees can Greece and Italy grant asylum or humanitarian protection to?? Certainly not the hundreds of thousands arriving there first. The UK must understand that as the fifth richest country in the world we can and must accept more than 20,000 or even, in my view, 50,000. .
@Janet
Surely if they’ve been given asylum and benefits in France then they’re no longer in danger and if they want to come to the UK they should therefore just go through the normal application for a visa process? Why choose to camp at a tunnel if you’ve been given state aid and asylum? Are they not then economic migrants who don’t want to go through the usual legal channels because the UK will almost certainly reject their applications?
Something about this doesn’t seem right.
The government seems t have washed its hands of the Calais problem – focusing instead on refugees in Lebanon. But, as Tom has reported, this is a running sore, almost within sight of Dover. It calls, does it not, for combined Anglo-French investigation, so that the actuality of it can be established. By which I mean: how many are asylum seekers and how many are more like economic migrants? That means careful interviewing. It cannot be just up to lone-ranger visitors like Tim Farron and Tom Brake, Revd Richard Fraser and Songs of Praise.
I don’t think Tom has any place demanding that the French do anything.
Perhaps he should write to George Osborne instead and demand he send some British tax payers money over to provide these services?
Perhaps he could even introduce a ten minute bill if he feels so strongly?
In the meantime, whatever the government says and the Mail/Express headlines say young illegals are still leaving Calais and arriving daily in the UK, by whatever means. This whole issue is caught up in the Euro Ref debate and campaign, any sign of weakness by the government and they face the wrath of the anti Europe brigade. My personal exeperience says that in general conversations with people there is much more sympathy for the immigrants position than the papers would have us believe.
By the way how are we voting on the governments austerity package? This is a chance to break from the coalition past.
Tom you are a London MP how about taking a walk around Westminster one night and seeing the homeless people of UK that are sleeping on the streets and who are forced to use food banks, you are a UK MP voted in by UK citizens to help them so unless you start helping them then don’t be surprised if you lose your seat at the next general election.
just some thoughts (and even facts!) on some of the points.
Those in Calais have not arrrived in France straight from war torn countries, they have usually been through a number of others, and not claimed asylum there either, there are not the facilities to do so, and the French, last time I heard, are taking claims very slowly indeed. This is why a joint European approach is needed to look at new ways of dealing with this crisis that is both efficient and humanitarian. and the UK needs to be part of that.
Tom does say in his article that there are some economic migrants there. that does not mean they are out and out sinners, they are not living as they are in Calais and prepared to literally risk life and limb if not driven to it. The UK has done its share of economically migrating over the years too !
People are managing to escape Calais and arrive here. I’ve met some. There is no way I could not have compassion for these people, and those I have met are very keen to contribute to our society, to learn good English, to play their part.
I have also heard from local people who have taken aid to Calais, in properlly organised ways. I have heard what they have come back with, seen their pictures, seen their videos. I don’t need to read the Daily Mail for their version, reality is enough.
Shaun Cunningham 12th Oct ’15 – 5:44pm “genuine refugees” again.!
Suppose you were outside your country of nationality or origin, but in a country affected by World War 2. Suppose you had a well founded fear of persecution for a reason covered by the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the status of refugees in respect of events happening in Europe before 1951. Are you a ‘genuine refugee’ or not?
Can you give reasons to grant asylum that will be accepted by a senior officer or to refuse that will be accepted by an Immigration Judge?
Please do not rely only on the Daily Mail or the Mail on Sunday.
David, Those who have been granted asylum (or more likely humanitarian protection in France) do not ebven need to claim benefits because they aer then allowed to work. Tey will certainly not be in the ghastly camps but will be living in possibly social housing or renting from private landlords in France (any part). The people in the camps are still waiting to claim asylum/hp in the UK because they want to come here for the reasons stated above. Do not ask me why the UK Gov. is refusing to process their claims but I suspect it is because it knows that the vast majority would succeed – they are mostly in need of at least humanitarian protection (which has to be renewed after 5 yrs). This would cause an increase in the UK immigration figures tho I am sure they could be classed as a separate category in some way.. The eminent legal people who issued an excellent statement in the GUARDIAN ON MOMDAY 12TH OCTOBERr CLEARLY KNOW HOW THEIR CLAIMS CAN BE ASSESSED IN FRANCE OR HOW A TEMPORARY VISA COUD BE ISSUED. THE CLAIMS CAN BE PROCESSED BUT OUR NICE GOV. DOES NOT WANT TO DO SO.Instead it prefers to criminalise the vulnerable and needy , something it is very good at doing. .
Liberal Democrats led by ld4sos Liberal Democrats For seekers of Sanctuary have given a lead on this issue but to be effective for change we must work with all who share our view that this inhumanity is the result of decisions made by Conservative Ministers. They must be challenged. While there is so much public concern this is the time to act.