Day Six – trade unionists 4 Calais – Thursday 18th February
A new arrival describes her day: ‘I can’t believe how much work has gone into the camp. It is amazing being able to help these people. I feel lost for words. I made lots of friends and was having lots of fun with them. They were teaching us Kurdish and Sudanese. I didn’t know what to expect and was taken aback by the friendships I have made. I will feel sad to leave these people tomorrow’.
We bought jerrycans of petrol for the school from the funds we have raised, to run the generator at the school. Two men, one from Belgian and one from the UK, are the people behind the school. Mako left the UK to come and help and he spends all day fielding questions – how can I see a doctor? Are my children safe if I leave them in the school for a couple of hours? Where can I learn English? Can I use you computers?
He is a man who works in his normal life in a shop, and now is running this amazing corner of the ‘jungle’. A large part of his job is talking to the camera crews and photographers who turn up on an hourly basis. He greets them with charm and patience. Today some of the group took a trip to Dunkirk. We drove in the sleety rain and arrived at a dismal car park in Grand Synthe.
Having spent almost a week at Calais, we thought we knew what a desperate situation looked like. Dunkirk seems ten times more desperate than Calais. We were searched on the way in, opening our coats, so that the police could check we were not bringing any aid or donations. There are very few buildings and structures and up to 3,000 people are living in lightweight festival tents, in five inches of mud, with none of the gravel or building materials in Calais, so that paths are hard to navigate and you slip and slide as you make your way. We had a cup of tea in a tent as the rain poured down outside.
There was a baby of 5 months in the tent and toddlers sheltering in tiny spaces with no room to play, no toys and endless mud dominating everything. It was a sombre journey back. The talk on the camp in Calais was of a 10 day reprieve due to a legal case challenging the demolition order. This gives us a window to campaign, and to say that there is a solution: Let them into the UK and open the borders.
Stand Up To Racism has called for a protest at Downing St 6pm next Monday 22nd February. Don’t bulldoze Calais refugees homes, let them into Britain. Click here for event page.
