Calais is at a breaking point.
Today I spoke with a 14 year old boy who arrived in Calais just a week ago. He was crying and he asked me when he would get to see his brother in the UK. He looked at me with pleading eyes and said ‘Madam it took so long to get here and the way was hard. I have answered every question your friends asked me. When can I go?’ He was referring to the French volunteer legal team who will help with his claim. ‘I don’t like it here. My brother is waiting.’ How do I tell him it …
The story of Abdulazez Dukhan
“Three years ago, I was stuck in refugee camps in Greece. I was in Idomini and Eko station camp, which were located around the Greek-Macadonian borders. For 5 months, I lived in camps with thousands of people. It was here where I decided to stand against the media, most of whom represent us in a negative way. I have seen with my own eyes, journalists waiting the whole day for a fight to start in the camps. It’s only then that they record. I was one person. I felt weak at first, but then I decided to stand against them, …
“I wanted to paint to deliver a message”
Salam started painting while living in Greece and waiting for his family’s asylum case to be processed. “I just started without taking classes or anything just on my own. I wanted to paint to deliver a message through my paintings, to tell everyone what it is like to live a refugee life, how we feel, and how hard it is to fight for a better and safer life. I want everyone to know about our situation. I also play three instruments; Saz, Oud, and Guitar, and play music everyday, as a way to express my feelings and frustrations. It’s just …
Evacuation is needed for the refugees of Tripoli
721 refugees are trapped in Qaser Bin Gashir detention centre close to the war front outside Tripoli. They have no food for four days, no clean water or medication. They are sick and terrified, hungry and desperate. There are 110 children, so many vulnerable and traumatised men and women. One boy tried to kill himself last night and was only saved by miracle. The fighting is getting closer, they are suffering a lot. They need immediate evacuation! UNHCR have offered a transfer to Zintan but this is not a solution. 18 refugees have died there already and people there tell …
“He waited in vain to be accepted for asylum in France”
Puythouck April 2019. As I leave the Pakistani camp I see someone in the distance sitting by a fire. He is isolated and looks so lonely. This image catches my imagination so I walk over to ask him if I can take a photograph. Suddenly he turns around and calls me by my name. He knows me, but I’m having trouble placing him until he tells me his name: ‘A’…..and then the past penetrates my mind like lightning. I got to know him in the summer of 2017, the first summer after the fire at La Liniere, the ‘official’ Dunkirk …
Spring cleaning? Consider Calais
Planning a spring clean over the bank holiday weekend? Please keep an eye out for things on our donation needs list! Instead of gathering dust in your cupboards, unused phones, tents and sleeping bags could bring huge smiles to the faces of the refugees camping out near Calais. (And our volunteers at the warehouse too – as pictured!) See the full list of things we need and find out how to donate them here: https://care4calais.org/get-involved/collect-donate/ …
Support from the National Education Union
This week we were at the National Education Union conference in Liverpool and as always it was a great pleasure to see the many friends, old and new, who came to say hello and visit our stall. Massive thanks to the NEU who have steadfastly supported both Care4Calais and the refugees over the years. And massive thanks also to all the teachers who have been to Calais, who have supported us from the UK and who have helped refugees everywhere. Your compassion and willingness to stand up for what is right on top of the hard and important work you …
UN urges France to act on ‘dire’ living conditions of refugees- The Guardian
“People in Calais are being compelled to live in really dire circumstances, having already endured harrowing journeys there involving violence and extreme conditions … The evictions every 48 hours, which is what’s happening to those tent-dwellers, is unequivocally a violation of the right to adequate housing.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/12/un-france-dire-living-conditions-refugees-calais-migrants-human-rights?fbclid=IwAR3Vyd-fqepM75ZwwheXhwbrz22o1sBzohYV1RghNZAvPUsukJlAZDj55ZY …
“People continue to drown every day, and every one of these deaths is preventable.”
This is one of the boys that Europe refused to rescue. His name is Manuel. He is 6 years old. He was one of 64 people rescued yesterday by a ship called #AlanKurdi. It is the last remaining rescue boat operating in the Med. Another 50 people are still missing. There is no official help for them. Nobody is looking and nobody cares – except the civilian NGOs. Europe has refused assistance. Italy has closed their ports to any that are rescued. The politicians in each country will say that the rescues are the responsibility of the Libyan Coast Guard. …
50% of the refugees we support suffer dental pain
Can you remember a pain that kept you awake at night tossing and turning? One of the most commonly suffered pains around the world is dental pain. Whether it’s a tooth, gum, or multiple teeth, most of us dose up with pain killers until we can reach a dentist, or in more severe case and we race to the emergency room. Imagine that same pain but there is no access to painkillers, no possibility of a trip to the emergency room. This is the reality for so many refugees who are without access to basic medical or dental care. If …
