February 14th - Calais Report - Visit #11 !Start: • 07:00 from London Team: • Staff and companions from Emmaus St Albans and Emmaus Greenwich: Tony, Shirley,

Jenny, Danny, Anthony, Rob, Cheryl, Lee, Jason and Jim • Tag-Along Volunteers: Leila, Charlotte, Nicola, Hameed, Matt, Laura Rendezvous: • 10:15 Pride of Burgundy !We gathered on the Pride of Burgundy, fuelled up with coffee and let the bracing sea air blow away the cobwebs. On arrival in France we drove straight to Care4Calais’ warehouse to meet Clare Moseley, John Sloan and their army of volunteers. The warehouse was packed with people, music was playing and, conveniently, we’d arrived just in time for lunch. We grabbed some sandwiches, downed some hot tea and organised ourselves for the first distribution run. After loading up the vans we set off. !Many members of our team had been to the camp in December and January, but my last visit was back in November, just after a fire had wiped out an estimated 50 tents in the Eritrean area. Since then there have been reports of attacks on camp residents, including children, by French police and civilian ‘militias’, the latter of whom are believed to be entering the camp at night. Victims have been beaten, probably with metal weapons, and Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has reported stab wounds, broken bones, head trauma and severe bruising, with several people admitted to hospital suffering life-threatening in-juries. On a wider scale there have been coordinated marches in cities across Europe by fascist groups, including the far-right Pegida, whose members gathered antagonistically in Calais in early February, defying a police ban. Many media agencies in the UK and Europe continue to use biased language when referring to refugees who are attempting to seek a better life in Europe, and in doing so continue to incite hatred and propagate racist atti-tudes. !Our first stop-off point was at the back of the camp, near the Sudanese area, down a road which eventually links up to the Jules Ferry centre. It also runs past the entrance to the controversial new white shipping containers which the French government have installed. Controversial because some migrants see them as a proxy prison, with fences closing them in, where they will be fingerprinted and locked away at night. Certainly, these sterile box-es are markedly different from the colourful wooden shelters on the other side of the boundary fence. Although they do not feel homely or welcoming, the interior rooms are furnished with basic bunk beds and heating and hence do offer protection from the freez-ing wind and rain that lashes the make-shift tents and tarpaulins in the rest of the camp.

Our Emmaus companions opened up the back of the van and we began handing out the 150 new rain jackets and 150 new hoodies, kindly donated by Emmaus Mossley, which were received with big smiles by the residents. It took a while for a line to form as everyone was hiding away in their shelters, trying to escape the biting cold. When people did begin to emerge they were wrapped up tightly in their mismatched coats, scarves and hats, no doubt obtained from previous distribution runs. I was relieved to see most people were wearing proper shoes, but every now and again I spotted a pair of bare feet, squashed into sandals too small for them, and I wished we were giving out shoes as well that day.

!Despite the weather the campers were friendly and smiling, and sometimes too shy to take a sweet from the bag of humbugs and bon bons Tony had given me to share around. Too soon we ran out of jackets and turned to walk to our next distribution point. Nicola and I were offered tea by a man we’d just given a waterproof to, and, though we declined as we’d just had some at the warehouse, we were touched by his desire to welcome us and share what he had with perfect strangers. We headed into the camp and overheard a resident speaking to a volunteer from another charity - “welcome, this is my home”, he

said, in perfect English. We reached the main street and I realised many of the tents have gone and in their place are sturdier wooden shelters and a number of caravans, apparently donated by a team of well-wishers. Though it was heartening to see stronger homes there was a very different feel to the camp this time, and as we rounded the corner I was aston-ished to see that the strip of land running beside the motorway was completely cleared of human life. Where it had previously been covered in tents, restaurants and shops, it was now a muddy, rutted wasteland, and the topsoil had even been dug out so that the ground level was far lower than it had been back in September. This was near to Banksy’s portrait of Steve Jobs, now a solitary piece of graffiti in the distance.

!!Still, the residents remain industrious and the old high street was in good condition, show-casing new pop-up businesses, such as a hammam, a Kurdish restaurant and a grocery store. We enjoyed wandering along the road, marvelling at the entrepreneurial spirit of the locals, and I found the take-away shop that I’d spotted during my first visit to the camp, still tempting me with its onion bhajis and samosas displayed in the glass window. I didn’t get a take-away, but next time, if it’s still there, I think I’ll have to stop by.

We did another two distributions, of firewood and “goody bags” which comprised toilet paper, underwear, toothpaste and other similar items. I saw one or two women throughout the day, but it was always men coming out to join the queues. This is something which certain newspapers like to highlight, as young, single immigrant men are perceived as a threat. However, it is worth noting that in many countries men are typically the ones who are expected to leave their country to find work and send money home. It is also worth noting that the dangers of migrating alone, across deserts, seas, continents and borders, are far higher for a woman. Therefore, of course, there is an imbalance in the male to female ratio in Calais. !Back at the Care4Calais base, the warehouses were still buzzing with life, and I was im-pressed as ever by the tenacity of Clare and her team. The charity continued supporting the camp throughout the long winter months, throughout the tent fires, throughout the enforced ground clearances, throughout the violent attacks on the residents, throughout the negative propaganda levelled at them, and both camp and charity are still going strong. Another van arrived and we helped unload food and boxes until the ferry lights be-gan to call. We gathered our team, said our goodbyes and convoyed back to the ferry ter-minal, where we boarded the Pride of Kent and left France again. Until next time. !Many thanks as always to Emmaus St Albans for welcoming us as part of your Calais crew. It is a pleasure to work with people who have such large hearts, who never flinch from the job, who believe so strongly in jus-tice and equality. We are proud to know you and to volunteer alongside you. !UPDATE: The authorities have given notice that they intend to continue their bulldozing frenzy, targeting the entire south section of the camp. The French Minister of the Interior, Bernard Cazeneuve, has stated there are 1,000 people living in the south section. However, charities in the camp have carried out a far more methodical consensus by as-sessing food distribution numbers and amounts of water consumption and waste production. They put the number in the south section to be nearly 3,500, including 440 children, 291 of whom are unaccompa-nied.

The authorities have admitted they have just over 1000 alternative accommodation places available. This will leave 2,500 people completely homeless, without any form of shelter whatsoever. The bull-dozers will then roll on to the north section, where there are over 2000 people, including around 140 Syrian households. !The camp charities have gone to court to try to pre-vent the evictions. A verdict is expected imminently. !Keep up to date with http://www.calaidipedia.-co.uk/breaking-news