Calais Update January 2020

The authorities in Calais and Dunkirk have been busy recently. In both areas they have cut down and thinned out trees in the few places left where the refugees sleep. The result is an open wasteland that feels even more exposed and barren than before.

In Calais, the majority of refugees exist on the edges of an industrial estate just outside the town. Over time, as more land has been fenced off, the refugees have retreated into patchy areas of trees and scrubland around the corners of this estate. Now more trees have been removed the dirt ground is open and exposed.

In March 2015 the French authorities actually asked refugees, who where then sleeping rough in and around the town itself, to move to the industrial estate to relieve tension with the town’s residents. With no part of this estate now left to utilise, do they want to force people back into the town?

The single best thing you can do in 2020 to support refugees, is to set up a recurring donation.  Recurring donations allow us to respond immediately to crisis and emergencies without the need to fundraise first.

Whatever you can afford, the smallest amount makes such a difference to what we can do. Donate today!