Soon appearing on a billboard near you !
Amazing news! This photograph of refugees and Care4Calais volunteers has been chosen for a government ad campaign that shows what makes Britain Great – and will soon be prominently displayed at Heathrow Airport. The picture was taken by photographer Frederic Aranda, who works with a group based at an East London hotel. Frederic loves the way volunteers and refugees come together as a big family, and tried to get that across in his pictures. He certainly succeeded in this one, shot in London’s Smithfield market. “The image is a tribute to Care4Calais, an organisation that helps refugees whose immigration …
We’re going to court to stop Rwanda
We’re going to court to #StopRwanda And we need your help. Yesterday morning we sent a legal letter to the Government challenging their reprehensible plan to send refugees to Rwanda. We are doing this with our friends from Detention Action, the PCS Union, whose members will be tasked to carry out the plan, and our fantastic lawyers, Duncan Lewis. The government’s plan is a threat to the lives of refugees, the international reputation of the United Kingdom and the finances of British people. From the suspiciously sparse detail presented so far, it is already clear the plan holds multiple …
Government backs down on pushbacks
We are proud and delighted that the Home Secretary has abandoned the controversial Pushbacks policy just over a week before our case was due to be heard in the High Court. Care4Calais joined forces with the Public and Commercial Services Union, Channel Rescue and Freedom from Torture to challenge the proposed Home Office policy to forcibly push back small refugee boats in the English Channel. The hearing was set for May 3rd. On Sunday night the Home Office wrote to confirm the policy has been withdrawn. Before today, Priti Patel had repeatedly insisted that the pushback policy would …
Ramadan Mubarak
In Calais, many refugees are observing Ramadan now, and it’s not easy for them. Abdul, a refugee from Sudan, told me that back at home, it was hard to fast all day too. But he loved food and eating, and when the sun went down, it was good to choose what he would break his fast with. In France, that was different. For one thing, the sun goes down later, so the days are longer. But worse than that, it’s difficult to make sure there is anything at all to eat at night. He just tries to get through …
Our volunteers helping amid terrible conditions
In the last 24 hours our volunteers in Calais have made us so proud with their incredible hard work to help refugees in a desperate situation. It has been literally freezing in Calais and Dunkirk, with snow on the ground and a wind chill lowering temperatures to minus five. Human beings should not be outside at all in such conditions, let alone sleeping rough and living in tents, as refugees are. A large gym in Dunkirk has been opened to provide shelter for about 200 refugees, but that is not nearly enough. And as if this were not bad …
Welcoming Refugees in Kent
On Thursday about 60 people arrived together on two dinghies on the shore at Dungeness. Most were from Syria, Kuwait and Iran. There was a woman with a young child aged between one and two years old among them, and everyone looked so cold and exhausted by the journey it was painful to see. Most of their shoes and socks were ruined, all wet and sandy, so I gave out sliders. The Dungeness beach is rocky, and painful on feet, so they make a big difference. I couldn’t believe how polite and kind they were even in this situation. …
Sudanese man killed by car in Calais
Tragically, another refugee has been killed in Calais The man, Sudanese and his his twenties, was hit by a vehicle while walking on the road near the village of Nouvelle-Eglise at 6am on Thursday morning. Emergency services rushed to the scene, but the man was dead when they arrived. The man had only been in Calais for a few days, according to the La Voix Du Nord news organisation, so he was probably less aware of the dangers faced refugees here. He is the fifth refugee to be killed in Calais just this year. This shocking number brings home how …
The House of Lords has rejected Clause 11 of the anti-refugee bill
Last night the House of Lords voted against one of the most unfair and cruel parts of the government’s anti-refugee bill. They voted by 204-126 to remove Clause 11, which would allow the government to pick and choose to which refugees it gives protection. At the moment, we judge all asylum seekers in the same way, based how badly they need our help. But Clause 11 would change that. It would mean that instead of respecting the principle that all people deserve fairness, our government could subjectively decide which people it wants to help. Of course the government doesn’t …
Sharing is Caring
The other day we found some leftover advent calendars among the food supplies. They were still in their eat-by dates, so we took them out on a food distribution to ask if any of the refugees wanted them. It turned out they really did! In fact They went crazy for them. OK, you might think, if you’re sleeping rough and finding it hard to find food to eat, of course you’re going to go crazy for a little luxury like chocolate. But that wasn’t the whole story. “Pick a number, one to 24!” said one guy to me, coming …
Refugees face constant danger in Calais
On Tuesday the dead body of a young man we understand to be a refugee was found on a road near the port in Calais. The cause of his death has not been confirmed, but his injuries suggest he fell from, or was struck by, a lorry. It is not known how long his body had been there. Horrifically this is the third confirmed refugee death in northern France already this year, and it’s likely that there have been at least two more. On January 14, Azzeidin, a Sudanese man in his 20s, died at sea when the boat …