Refugees lose their only shelter in Dunkirk raid
Today my friend sent me two photos: one of a patch of muddy grass in the jungle of Dunkirk, and another with a tent built on the same spot. I thought he was showing me a ‘before and after’ shot of the tent he had just erected, but it was the opposite. The photo of the muddy grass showed all that was left after police demolished his only shelter.
That is how I found out that police carried out a mass eviction in Dunkirk. A large group of refugees were bussed away to regions unknown. Those who stayed behind have nowhere to sleep – almost everything was confiscated and destroyed. My friend said police left no stone unturned.
Once again he finds himself in search of another shelter – be that a tent, a sleeping bag or even just tarpaulin. Anything that can keep him warm at night. In the meantime, he will be sleeping out in the cold, on the mud of the rainy Dunkirk jungle.
This Dunkirk eviction happened off the back of several police raids in Calais, where officials have carried out at least two large-scale evictions and multiple smaller operations. Some refugees were bussed as far as Toulouse near the Spanish border, and came back to find that even the trees under which they slept had been chopped down.
Dunkirk evictions are especially heart-breaking given the number of kids who stay there. But no one, be it man, woman or child, deserves to live through this.
We urgently need your help to provide shelter, food and support to refugees in Dunkirk. To contribute visit care4calais.org/donate
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