I recently went to see the refugee camp (often called the jungle) in Calais to better understand the situation and help out as best as I could. Like many others I've been following the refugee crisis in the news, been helping out with collections and donations and have been protesting for the government to do more to help. But I figured you can read as many articles you like, but you will probably have a deeper human understanding of the situation when you see it for yourself. Here I share my experience and my thoughts. I have decided not to use the names of the refugees I met or include photos of them.
I met with Riaz, a volunteer from Auberge des Migrants, an excellent local organisation working with others to distribute supplies and generally help maintain the camp. Riaz himself is a Pakistani refugee. He had attempted to enter the UK, but after falling from a fence and breaking his leg, he successfully claimed asylum in France and now dedicates his time to help others. Riaz kindly showed me around.
The camp is home to many different nationalities each with their own stories to tell. Most are from Sudan. But there are also refugees from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan among other places. A total of around 4000 people live here. As the rain poured down, the conditions seemed bleak. There were great puddles of stagnant water filled with rubbish throughout the camp sometimes encroaching into peoples' tents.
These refugees have nothing and nowhere to go. They all want to seek safety in the UK, many already have family there. They do not know how long they will stay here, or how they will get to the UK if at all. The increased amount of fences, dogs and police have dissuaded some from trying. Fear of being deported back to their country of origin is enough to stop an attempt to get to the UK. Many would agree it is a desperate situation for a human being to be in, I'm not sure I would be able to cope if it were me.
Yet, despite this, I have never met such generous, welcoming and hopeful people. Meeting a group of Syrian refugees, they immediately welcomed me into their tent offering me cigarettes and coffee. They were eager to share everything, their food, hospitality and their stories. Their experiences of paying human traffickers thousands of pounds and the details of their arduous journeys (sometimes losing loved ones on the way) were unbelievable. Something I will never be able to fully comprehend.
Talking with them, they could not understand the response of some western governments who have done almost nothing to help them and instead meet them with hostility. One refugee hit the nail on the head: in 2003 Syria welcomed thousands of refugees, fleeing the war (read western intervention) in Iraq. In 2011 Syria welcomed refugees fleeing the war (read western intervention) in Libya. Now when in need, other countries have turned their back on them and have taken no responsibility. He couldn't understand this.
Suppose the situation was reversed, and we in the UK had to flee, we would want and even expect other countries to help us. Why then is it right for the UK to have such hostility to people in need of help?
The UK government's (lack of) response to this situation is, in my view, shameful. I spent some time at the camp apologising for this. I also had to point out that this did not necessarily reflect the views of the British people and described the extraordinary efforts and generosity of much of the public in the UK. We have seen people coming together, working with charities, and in grassroots movements to offer the humanitarian response and support to refugees that our government has failed to provide. Around 40, 000 took to the streets last Saturday to send a message to the government that refugees are welcome here.
Showing the refugees pictures of the protest and of the people collecting donations seemed to strike a chord.
As we talked, a young startled Syrian entered. He had just arrived at the camp in the last few hours. He was desperate to ring his family to tell them he was safe. We gave the new arrivals tents, sleeping bags and blankets to get them set up.
Exploring the rest of the camp I found it upbeat in places, vibrant even. Make-shift café's shops, restaurants, churches and mosques had been built. In the afghan area of the camp, shops selling food and supplies as well as restaurants gave a sense of community.
Riaz introduced me to some of his Pakistani friends in the camp who were also keen to share what little they had with me. These were teachers and doctors who have ended up here. One had a masters in political science from Leeds university who had dreams of getting involved in politics. It wasn't clear how he ended up here, but he had been here for 13 months and had all his documents stolen whilst in the camp.
To meet these refugees and hear their stories has the opposite effect of the dehumanising coverage and rhetoric of the right-wing press and our own prime minister. You can identify, understand and share jokes. Of course you don't need to go to the camp to understand that these are human beings, but hearing their stories puts into clear perspective how describing them as 'swarms' and 'cockroaches' is to deliberately dehumanise them and take their identities away. This is the only way to justify the current horrific treatment of them. As soon as these people are recognised as human beings, this treatment becomes unjustifiable.
The narrative has shifted recently with even the Daily Mail publishing the photos of drowned refugee Aylan Kurdi. This development is welcome if a little hypocritical. The hostility towards migrants and refugees has facilitated the maltreatment. This hostility has been actively fostered by right-wing press. Nonetheless a shift in narrative is what is needed.
This is the effect of humanising refugees. When confronted with real life stories and images of the situation, people have realised that these are not statistics but people. Once it is shown that these people are in need of help and can be helped attitudes can change and an impulse to help is revealed.
Philosopher Peter Singer in a thought experiment asks us to imagine that you are walking through a park and see a small child drowning in a shallow pond. You can save this child by wading into the water. However in doing so you would ruin your new pair of shoes which cost you £100. Would you save the child?
Most people respond 'of course I would save the child'. Singer then points out that if you donated £100 to the right reputable charity that saves children from preventable diseases you could save a child's life. You could probably do it right now on your phone whilst reading this. So why don't you do that? It ought to make no moral difference that the life you can save is in front of you or far away.
Once you realise that there are human beings you can save it can change your attitude. The very people and papers that have peddled hostility towards these refugees would of course not turn away a refugee directly in front of them. These photos and stories have placed the refugees right in front of them. Now they realise that it is as immoral to not help them. This is the effect the photos and stories of the plights of refugees has had. It has shifted the narrative and spurred people and the government into action.
Back to the camp now. I met up with some fellow volunteers. Some have been here for weeks. I am embarrassed at how my trivial contribution was insignificant in comparison to the warmth and dedication of these volunteers. I helped to clean up the areas around the water taps and dig drainage systems so the water does not collect and become stagnant, dirty and potentially dangerous.
After that we were welcomed into the afghan café for tea, food and more cigarettes. Everyone wanted to know where we were from and (half) jokingly asked if we could take them to London with us.
I left after only a day feeling guilty about my meagre contribution, humbled by the people I met, overwhelmed by their kindness and in awe of the dedication of the volunteers there.
Overall though, the feeling I left with was anger. How do we respond to human beings in dire need of help, all with their own dreams, aspirations and contributions to make? More fences. More dogs. More Police. More detention. More deportation. More stigmatisation. More dehumanisation. I left angry that the UK government has done next to nothing and has arguably actively contributed to their suffering.
Of course the narrative has shifted, and the government has responded. Cameron has pledged to take in 20,000 refugees from camps surrounding Syria over the next five years. This is welcome. But I fear this is too little too late. Germany will receive 800,000 this year alone. So our pledge of 4,000 a year is tiny in comparison. Plus it does nothing to help those already in Europe and Calais in particular. We can do more.
Also though the narrative has shifted, news will change and this crisis will become less of a top issue. There is a worry that those left in the camps will be forgotten. As the winter comes and temperatures drop, this could be dangerous. It is important to make sure that the aid being given does not dry up, and the amazing enthusiasm from people to help does not wane. Now the narrative has shifted the opportunity ought to be seized to maintain it.
Maybe I'm naïve, but it seems so simple to help these people in Calais. Allowing them to enter the UK would clearly be a way to improve their life chances. These teachers, doctors, engineers, graduates, many already with family in the UK should be welcomed. This solution seems so obvious that I must be overlooking a key reason as to why we haven't done this already.
It might be said: 'there's no room, we don't have enough houses, school places or infrastructure'. In my view, one of the greatest things about immigration debates is that they highlight existing problems within society - notably the housing crisis. I agree there ought to be more houses and school places, many have been saying this for years. This is a long standing problem which should be addressed by investing and providing them.
Plus there are only 4000 people in the camp in Calais who could easily be provided for. I'm not sure which is the correct statistic for the amount of empty homes in the UK, some say hundred of thousands others say millions. I leave it to you to google. Each local authority could take only a small number and easily accommodate them.
4000 people may sound like a lot. But put it like this, 4000 people are born every 2 days in the UK. When you realise this the 'no more room' argument sounds quite immoral if told to parents who want to have children. Why then is it not immoral when used against refugees in need of help?
'Well those who would be born here would be british citizens, we have a moral obligation to look after their interests'. But where you are born is completely arbitrary. It is a game of luck (or chance if you prefer). The fact that I was born in the UK should give me no higher moral status than any other human being, the same way that the colour of my skin or the length of my toenails should not give me a higher moral status. These refugees through no fault of their own have been thrown into a desperate situation. It should not be our common nationality that decides our obligations but our common humanity.
If we are to assign moral status and decide who ought to receive help and protection, it might be better to do it on the basis of the character of people, their generosity, humanity etc. On that basis the people that are left in these camps should be given more respect than those who would spurn them or describe them as insects. On that basis the refugees in Calais are more deserving of our welcome than the right-wing journalists and politicians that peddle the hostility towards them.
Maybe I don't understand the situation properly, but it seems that we can do more to help these people in Calais. I welcome the idea of taking refugees from the camps surrounding Syria, but why not also help those in Europe?
In any case, my experience in Calais has left me feeling angry. I look forward to hopefully returning, and help out in a meaningful way like the real volunteers already there.
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