Lambeth Trade Unions – we managed to get through the border and the channel tunnel at Folkestone in our minibus full of clothes, shoes and donations for the refugee camp.
As we arrived at the Care4Calais distribution centre to drop off donations we met delegations from Wakefield and Birmingham who had also made it over without any problem. Our donations included £500 from train drivers and teachers and £400 from school children.
We visited the camp and were struck by how quickly the bulldozed area had grown over. There was no evidence of the large sections of homes that we had seen in January and February.
Sadly, and disgracefully, the main convoy was held at Dover and not allowed through the border. The French and British authorities banned the lorries bringing aid for the refugee camps from coming across.
A protest rally was held by those on the convoy which successfully shut down the port. The protest was taken to the doors of the French Embassy in London, with over 1000 people demanding that the much needed supplies are allowed through to Calais.
At the end of the day, we drove miles out of town to a remote field where the authorities had granted permission for a rally to be held. It was a small gathering of all those who managed to get through, mainly anti-racism activists and trade unionists from NUT, Unison, CWU, UCU and more. Around 100 people listened to a group of refugees on stage, talking about their experiences on the camp. It was striking to hear the list of nationalities of the speakers: Iraq, Iran, Afganistan, Syria, Darfur, Libya…. a list of countries and places where western wars have been waged…Their stories were moving, in particular from one young man from Sudan. The frustration was so explicit as he spoke about the way refugees are portrayed in the media, the dehumanisation and the preconceptions.
The message from our group in response was unanimous. Yes we took supplies over, because we know people are cold and hungry. But we are not a charity. Ultimately we want the camps to be closed down and the people living there allowed into Britain.
We are disgusted by our government and media’s treatment of immigrants, the blaming and scapegoating and the racist language. We need to step up the political fight for the borders to be opened, war to be stopped and free movement for all and not just the rich.
Cameron has spent a total of £62 million on fencing and policing already in the port of Calais to keep people homeless and hungry. And to try and convince us that Farage’s nasty, hate-inciting anti-immigrant poster is true : that Britain is at ‘breaking point’. But this is a lie. The facts say the opposite. Immigration is good for the economy. Immigration does not lead to low salaries. Our NHS would not exist without immigration. We know that it is not immigrants who are to blame for the cuts to our health, education and public services, but the financial crisis and constant strive for excessive profits by greedy bankers and employers. Of course Cameron and co prefer to blame migrants and refugees than admit him and his pals were the cause of the crisis.
Where we are at breaking point, is on racism. The tragic death of Jo Cox in a fascist terrorist attack this week has shown us that.
Refugees are human beings, like us. They have previous lives that have been destroyed. They have expectations and aspirations. They are not to be blamed for government cuts and failed policies. It is our wars that have caused them to be refugees. There is plenty of room for them in this rich, rich country where houses stand empty and Tesco supermarket throws away 60,000 tonnes of food per year.
Lift the ban, let the aid through. Open the borders, refugees are welcome here.