From the outside the migrant camp in Calais looks bleak and uninviting. We’ve all seen the pictures; a maze of battered tents, signs in broken English making heartfelt pleas for recognition, horrific injuries inflicted by the police. Certainly not somewhere you’d want to be whilst away on your summer vacation. But that’s exactly what a group of students from Durham did. Her Campus spoke to the newly formed Durham for Refugees group about their experience.
Around 20 students made the journey across the channel this summer, volunteering with the organisation Care4Calais. Primarily, they were there to help distribute supplies, teach English and put on activities for the camp’s inhabitants, but the week long trip for charity turned into a lot more than that for the students who went.
‘Driving into the camp cramped in the back of a dark van hoping not to be stopped by the French authorities was probably one of the scariest moments of my life’ explains Jasmine, who blogged daily about her experience.
The scale of the operation in Calais quickly became apparent upon talking to volunteers. Anna, says that one day just 16 people packaged enough food to feed 2730 people for a week. Sorting donations also brought home the reality of life in the camp. ‘The insensitivity of some of the donations also surprised me,’ says Maddey, who wanted to emphasise that people in the camp were not opportunistic. ‘Some shoes would come in with holes in and shirts that were stained. If you wouldn’t wear them, why should other people?’
‘On one day I had to create a human barrier with other volunteers to prevent people from pushing into the line.’ recounts Katie, a second year student. There was agreement that the process of distribution created an odd dynamic between the refugees and volunteers. Lucy, a second year Cuths’ student said ‘container distribution did in some ways create a volunteer ‘superiority’’. ‘A lot of the people who came over claiming to be ‘bambinos’ who needed priority were in fact just looking for something to do, some sort of human interaction I guess. I kept reminding myself that if people really wanted to break the line and jump in, our hand-holding would do little to stop it.’
But what is the camp really like inside? Much more complicated than the typical portrayal might suggest. The group paint a picture of the camp as a lot like a small town. Maddey says there’s a central track with shops and restaurants. Further out the tents where people live dominate, like a peculiar makeshift suburbia. There are different neighbourhoods, with some that the volunteers are warned against entering. ‘Everyone I met was extremely friendly and welcoming. They would smile and say hello as you walked down the street.’ said Katie.
‘I really admire how the refugees are able to joke around and make the best of the situation despite their horrific experiences.’ Beth, one of the organisers of the trips, explains. She’s keen to emphasise that many of the refugee have been through terrible things: ‘I realise that many of them are putting on a front and are traumatised and deeply sad underneath, but to have the strength to even attempt at normality and humour is amazing.’ But the atmosphere in the camp isn’t completely optimistic. Jasmine tells me people are particularly tense late at night. ‘With news spreading that the authorities are planning to demolish the rest of the site, campers are naturally growing increasingly more desperate and scared.’ she recalls.
For people living in the camp, negotiating the dangers posed by the French police or people traffickers is a daily reality. Katie said she was surprised by the levels of police brutality; many men had broken bones after being shot by the police and tear gas is used every night in the camp. And Beth adds that many simply don’t understand the instructions of French police and end up being attacked because of it.
Katie told me the story of a girl from Eritrea, who was killed one night whilst the group was volunteering. ‘On the night she was supposed to leave Calais, smugglers told her to cross the road, causing her to be run over by a lorry. They did this on purpose to create a traffic jam, so that they had time to pack more people into their van.’ The people in the camp seem to have the whole world against them, so in some ways it’s no surprise that many were so keen to speak to the volunteers, people who’d given up time to help them.
Many of the camps’ inhabitants have to rely on charity, as their nationality means they don’t qualify for asylum. Beth was quick to stress that the authorities in Calais are ‘massively hypocritical’. ‘They refuse to acknowledge the “Jungle” as a refugee camp, instead calling it an illegal settlement as this means they do not have to enforce law in the camps. However, this does not stop them picking and choosing which laws they enforce: confiscating food and water and closing down restaurants as they are “unsafe” – because obviously the rest of the camp is completely safe (it’s definitely not) – and not allowing volunteers to take building materials into the camps yet providing no healthcare, sanitary facilities, education or aid,’ she details.
Another of the main tasks of volunteers in the camp is to teach English. Many refugees run into problems with immigration authorities who conduct interviews in only French or English, so this service is hugely important. ‘Those in limbo cannot work in Britain, meaning they cannot contribute towards society at all and are essentially forced to use state money, by the state, which seems entirely counter-productive as well as cruel and uncompassionate.’ says Anna, who went with a group of volunteers which included an academic, a plumber, and other students.
But the group were also keen to stress that the English lessons provided the camp’s inhabitants with a break from the humdrum routine of life in the camp. According to Katie many people wanted to learn about life in the UK. ‘There were awkward times when guys would ask you to marry them – you just had to laugh it off and change the subject.’ she recalled. ‘Showing them that their language and culture was just as interesting and important as my own I think gave them a sense of dignity’ said Lucy.
On one of the days, Care4Calais organised a sports day for the refugees.’ explains Katie. ‘I helped to set up the goal posts for football and set out the wickets and bats for cricket. There was also a volleyball court. That was one of the best days, because it was just about having fun, and despite everything, trying to enjoy life.’ And Maddey said that during her time in the camp she realised the English lessons did more than just help provide new skills for the refugees. ‘They aren’t allowed to work as they are ‘illegal’, so sitting in the camp all day is boring,’ she details, ‘they were so happy to see us and we were happy to help them have as much fun as they could in the few hours we were there.’
The experience seems to have changed the way the volunteers thought about the camp. ‘I really don’t know what I was expecting when I volunteered to go to Calais.’ said Lucy, before adding, ‘but what I did find was that people were making the best out of an awful situation and continuing to laugh despite how they must have been feeling inside.’
But do people in the camp expect to go home at some point, or is the camp and the possibility of a life in Europe there? Lucy continues.‘Of course for many of them it was difficult to talk about their homeland when they had experienced so many traumas there but I found that people looked upon their homes fondly. Most of those I spoke to told me how much they missed their country and that if the situation was safer they would certainly have stayed there.’
Katie explained that ‘sometimes people would tell you about what happened to them back in their home country, what forced them to leave. That was very upsetting to hear and it was hard to remain composed. On one day, a guy called Alexis from Sudan told me that he had watched his best friend die. I had to go and cry in the back of a van.’
What’s next for the group?
Durham for Refugees hope to be passed as an official society in this years’ Assembly, and they plan to focus their work around four main goals: fundraising, awareness, aid and helping asylum seekers already in the UK.
To keep up to date with Durham for Refugees on facebook you can like their page: https://www.facebook.com/durhamforrefugees/?fref=ts
Or email Beth at beth.h.anderson@durham.ac.uk to be added to the mailing list.
You can also find out more about the organisation Care 4 Calais and how to donate and get involved on their website http://care4calais.org/.
To read more about Jasmine’s experience, check out her blog: asdsajasmine.wordpress.com