Why is the Home Office is making refugees homeless?
This week I’ve seen something happening in my city that I’ve never seen before. I’ve supported refugees here in my home of Liverpool for years. I’ve begged, borrowed and robbed my friends and relatives for essential stuff. I’ve helped countless people who were in desperate need. Over that time my fellow Care4Calais volunteers and I have gotten a good sense of what’s most needed here. And today, we’ve realised that for the first time, the thing we’re going to need most is tents for people to live in. It is shocking. It is abhorrent. It’s the reality of life under …
A plea for refugees from Kirsty, sixth-former and volunteer
This story about volunteering with refugees in Calais was written by Kirsty, a sixth-form student from South Yorkshire (on the far right in the picture). Before volunteering with refugees in Calais, I had an idea of what it would be like: what I would hear, see and learn. These preconceived ideas were mostly incorrect. For example, a common belief is that the camps are full of violence and separation between groups. This is in fact a complete reversal of the truth. I was overwhelmed by the camaraderie and community spirit all around me. As someone said to me, “Why …
When exactly was the bacteria discovered on the barge?
Tonight the UK government has serious questions to answer about the Bibby Stockholm barge. This morning, it emerged that unsafe levels of Legionella pneumophila bacteria had been found in the barge’s water supply. If droplets of water containing this bacteria are inhaled, it can cause Legionnaire’s disease, which has a mortality rate of 10-80 per cent, depending on the health of the sufferer. Because of this risk, everyone on the barge should have been evacuated immediately. However this did not happen. At lunchtime we were contacted by three men on the barge who had not been informed of the outbreak, …
Panic and fear now gripping refugees in Calais
Today in Calais I talked to Ali, a 20-year-old refugee who was so confused and frightened by the news from the UK that it broke my heart. Ali had spent all weekend reading about the Illegal Migration Bill becoming law. “Why doesn’t the UK want me?” He asked. “Why don’t they understand?” Ali fled Sudan when his family were killed, and he knew he would be killed too if the militia found him. All he wants is to be safe. But now he’s in an impossible situation. In France, the police take his tent every few days. He …
Shon, the refugee learning to fly – literally
Shon, a refugee from Kenya who came to the UK with nothing after a traumatic journey from Africa, is now learning to fly – literally. Shon dreamed of being a pilot when he was a little boy growing up in Kenya. After leaving education there he worked in cyber security, and then had to flee to the UK. His dream went hold for a while, as he felt “very down” when he arrived, but then he met a wonderful Care4Calais volunteer called Pauline. “Pauline encouraged to believe in the future again. Without her, I would not have been able to …
Child asylum seekers classed as adults
Hundreds of lone children seeking asylum in the UK are being wrongly categorised as adults and handed new dates of birth by Border Force within minutes. Some are then being placed in adult detention centres, while others face deportation to Rwanda. The shocking new revelations were made by the I, after working with Care4Calais on the investigation. Case records and local authority data show that hundreds of children are being wrongly assessed as adults at the border and later confirmed to be children. Officials have been accused of changing dates of birth based solely on an initial visual assessment, often …
Please help asylum seekers at Wethersfield
Right now, the UK Government is starting to move asylum seekers into the former RAF barracks at Wethersfield. The Government plans to house up to 1700 at the base, which is totally unsuitable for people who have fled war, persecution and torture. The location of the base is remote, the buildings are in a state of disrepair, and as a former military base the environment is likely to retraumatise refugees who have been imprisoned in brutal military facilities in their home countries. The asylum seekers at Wethersfield desperately need clothing and support. We can organise this, but we urgently need …
What is driving refugee deaths in Calais?
Another Sudanese refugee has been killed in Calais after being hit by a lorry he was trying to board. He was the third young Sudanese man to die this way since early May, and it is now impossible to ignore the British government’s influence on the atmosphere that is driving this increasingly horrific problem. The man, reportedly aged 26, died after trying to climb onto the lorry as it stopped at a roundabout at about 6.10am on Wednesday. He fell off, and was fatally struck. The lorry driver appeared not even to notice, and continued on his way. For someone …
What food donations do for Calais refugees
Today in Calais I met a refugee who’d just been through a terrifying and harrowing ordeal. His face was very badly sunburned, he was stiff and limping, and he seemed exhausted. He told me that the day before he’d tried to cross the channel in a small boat with some other people. Out at sea he had called the UK coastguard, but they had not sent anyone to help them. In the end they had drifted for seven hours before making it back to France. The poor man – he looked about 30, and I’ll him Asem – asked me …
Asylum seekers suffering in UK hotels
“A system that allows private contractors to profit while human beings, including children, are losing weight from being denied access to nutritious food, is a system that is broken,” our CEO Steve Smith told the Guardian today. “Malnutrition among asylum seekers in UK hotels is a public health issue and one that the government must urgently get on top of.” Smith was commenting after it emerged that increasing number of children and adults in asylum seeker hotel accommodation are being diagnosed with malnutrition. Cases of malnutrition among both children and adults have been confirmed in various different areas of England, …