Camps destroyed on Eid

Yesterday was Eid, the day the Muslim community celebrate the end of Ramadan. Care4Calais made a point of collecting brand new items for distribution on this special day. After our distribution near the hospital, we joined one of the groups celebrating Eid, only to discover a much more sombre mood than expected. On this day of all days the French police had destroyed their camp, taking tents and sleeping bags. When the refugees should have been happy and enjoying themselves now that the month of fasting was at an end they all faced a cold, damp night ahead.

We had just unloaded a number of new tents and sleeping bags from the UK so it was decided to carry out an unplanned distribution – we went back to the warehouse around 9pm and loaded 30 tents, 50 sleeping bags and extra blankets as quickly as possible. Light was fading fast as we arrived back at the site, but we were welcomed and all the items were gratefully received and put to immediate use.

It is difficult to thank the individual donors who made this possible, and kept these people warm last night. Of course now we have limited stock of these items, so as always we are in need of more donations, but please do know your support is deeply appreciated here and every day we face new challenges we could not meet without your help.

Whilst it is easy to blame the French police for such a cruel policy, and in particular the choice of day to carry out such an exercise, it is worth remembering that it is the British government who is funding them, along with and other border policy measures in Calais, with in excess of £40 million of UK taxpayers money. Please contact your MP and tell him this is not to be done in your name. You can find contact details here https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-your-mp/

– written by a volunteer