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 …
Ukranian refugees turned back from UK now in Calais
Britain has turned back nine Ukrainian refugees at the border because they didn’t have visas, according to reports in the French press. The two families from Odessa in southern Ukraine had travelled four days to escape the Russian attack. Having been rejected by the UK, they are reportedly staying in hotel accommodation in Calais. Véronique Deprez-Boudier, sub-prefect of Calais, said that the British consul was now helping them to obtain visas that would allow them entry to the UK. She hoped that the process would be completed by the end of this week. While no one can fail to be …
The Russian protests show why we should welcome refugees
In the last 24 hours millions of us have been moved by the incredibly bravery of Russian people taking to the streets to protest against Putin’s war on Ukraine. These are people who have publicly stood up for other people, and for what’s right, knowing that they may well be punished and persecuted. People who put justice and other human beings’ welfare before their own. Of course when the corrupt, violent and authoritarian regimes they live under will not tolerate their bravery, compassion and willingness to speak truth, those regimes will try to silence them by any means necessary. …
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 …
How the Government misleads the public about refugees
One of the worst and most dangerous mistruths that this Government peddles is that refugee Channel crossings are “illegal”. As they know very well, the law allows refugees to come to the UK to claim asylum. A recent court of appeal ruling has shown that refugees coming to the UK on small boats are not arriving “illegally” if they intend to arrive at a port and claim asylum – which almost all of them do. In a court case on Thursday, Sir James Eadie QC, representing the home secretary, admitted to court that there had been a “misunderstanding” that …
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 …
The photography of former refugee Abdul Saboor
I left Afghanistan because they shot me. Not once, but three times. I don’t know who shot me or why, they were too far away to see. Afghanistan is a dangerous country – people do not follow rules, they do what they like. The first time I was shot, it was was in my arm, and I treated the wound myself. The next time it was my leg, and the doctors wanted me to stay in hospital, but I wouldn’t stay. The last time was in my back, and that was bad; I stayed in the hospital for 10 days …
We’re taking the government to court to stop pushbacks
We’re proud to say we’ve officially begun our legal action against this Government’s plan to cruelly push back flimsy boats at sea. We’re making our challenge alongside the PCS Union who represent Border Force’s own officials, and we’re doing this on behalf of all refugees whose lives will be put in more danger if they try to cross the channel and get pushed back. Pushbacks are the forcible turning around of boats carrying refugees to stop them from reaching a country’s border. Pushbacks have led to deaths in other countries and we don’t want them to turn the English Channel …
Problems at a Calais eviction
Despite a promise made just eight weeks ago to allow people to collect their belongings when evictions are carried out, this morning the French police formed a cordon around a settlement of around 200 people, herded them out and seized their possessions. Official reports say the police arrived at the usual time of 9.30am, but refugees have told us that the time was 7am, which meant they were utterly unprepared. Violence broke out between refugees and police as refugees tried to retrieve possessions such as clothes and phones. There are reports of tear gas, rubber bullets and batons being …
A visit from Dr Rosena
This week we were delighted to welcome to Calais Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, the Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health and MP for Tooting in London. She spent the last few days working with our team and talking to refugees. She found out how refugees’ mental health is impacted by the appalling conditions that they’re forced to live in. When she went out on distributions – food packs in Calais clothing packs in Dunkirk – she was shocked by some of the horrors they endured. Three children she met had hardly eaten for almost two days, and wouldn’t have been eating …