REFLECTIONS FROM THE CALAIS REFUGEE CAMP
Elmbridge CAN co-founder, Jeannie Tweedie, shares some reflections on her recent trip to the Calais refugee camp.
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Thank you for all the kind donations for our Calais trip.
The food and money that you gave stopped people being hungry. The boots went on the feet of people who, in October, in the mud, had none. The sleeping bags and mats gave some comfort at night to those who would otherwise have been freezing cold. Thank you, also, to those who have congratulated us for going. However, chopping vegetables for two days in the company of interesting, diverse people all motivated by a strong belief in our common humanity across man made borders and divides was not a hardship. I would recommend it to anyone, and I am sorry that I did not visit before. |
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There is a lot of questioning in some sections of the press at the moment, about the exact age of the young people brought over this week from
Calais. All of them have come under the Dublin regulation which allows for family reunification if particular criteria are met. And all of them have homes here in the UK with relatives to go to. All of them will have gone through stringent home office checks before being allowed to come, and all will have gone through trauma, separation and loss at an age when most of us were still worrying about spots and homework deadlines.
All I am able to say is that I saw a lot of very young boys in Calais. There are some girls, but families are more likely to entrust the safety of their sons to people smugglers than their daughters, who are felt to be more vulnerable to sexual abuse travelling alone. Often, finances do not stretch to the whole family travelling, and there are always those too weak or sick who need to be looked after at home. I saw many adolescents and young men who looked like they still needed their mothers and fathers to guide them, and I wondered how long it was since they last saw their parents, and if they ever would again. The youngest boy I saw alone looked about eleven. Dressed in badly fitting clothes he seemed chirpy and exuded bravado, but he was still so small and achingly vulnerable.
The women of the jungle tend to hide, it isn't a safe place for them. But I saw one mother rushing past, headscarf on, face down, pushing two small toddlers in an old buggy. She will feel the same desperate desire to protect them that we all have for our children. But doing that in the jungle must be nigh impossible. What has she come from, to make living in the mud and cold with her babies the better choice?
The shops and restaurants look just they do in the pictures. They not like the ones in Elmbridge but the food we ate was delicious. They represent a work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit in spite of extreme adversity that surely would be an asset to any country.
We were approached by a young man - probably over eighteen but still around the age when I left home for university, full of excitement at my new found independence but still rather reliant on my parents for cash subsidies and a secure base to return to in the holidays. His English wasn't good, but we understood that he wanted us to help him find his brother. I wonder how many days he has spent there, fruitlessly asking strangers to help him find his lost brother, the lifetime sibling companion that many of us continue take for granted at a much greater age.
So far, no children have yet to be brought to the UK under the Dubs amendment which went through parliament earlier this year. This legislation allows for a limited number of children who do not have family connections in the UK to be brought to safety. The Calais camp will be demolished any day soon, and it is vital that the Government acts on this legislation before this happens and even more youngsters are lost.
Please continue to press Amber Rudd on this. If you are able to, please consider donating to Phone Credit for Refugees, a group dedicated to ensuring that all unaccompanied minors, at least, have phone credit before the demolition, so that they can stay in touch with volunteers and stay safe.
Calais. All of them have come under the Dublin regulation which allows for family reunification if particular criteria are met. And all of them have homes here in the UK with relatives to go to. All of them will have gone through stringent home office checks before being allowed to come, and all will have gone through trauma, separation and loss at an age when most of us were still worrying about spots and homework deadlines.
All I am able to say is that I saw a lot of very young boys in Calais. There are some girls, but families are more likely to entrust the safety of their sons to people smugglers than their daughters, who are felt to be more vulnerable to sexual abuse travelling alone. Often, finances do not stretch to the whole family travelling, and there are always those too weak or sick who need to be looked after at home. I saw many adolescents and young men who looked like they still needed their mothers and fathers to guide them, and I wondered how long it was since they last saw their parents, and if they ever would again. The youngest boy I saw alone looked about eleven. Dressed in badly fitting clothes he seemed chirpy and exuded bravado, but he was still so small and achingly vulnerable.
The women of the jungle tend to hide, it isn't a safe place for them. But I saw one mother rushing past, headscarf on, face down, pushing two small toddlers in an old buggy. She will feel the same desperate desire to protect them that we all have for our children. But doing that in the jungle must be nigh impossible. What has she come from, to make living in the mud and cold with her babies the better choice?
The shops and restaurants look just they do in the pictures. They not like the ones in Elmbridge but the food we ate was delicious. They represent a work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit in spite of extreme adversity that surely would be an asset to any country.
We were approached by a young man - probably over eighteen but still around the age when I left home for university, full of excitement at my new found independence but still rather reliant on my parents for cash subsidies and a secure base to return to in the holidays. His English wasn't good, but we understood that he wanted us to help him find his brother. I wonder how many days he has spent there, fruitlessly asking strangers to help him find his lost brother, the lifetime sibling companion that many of us continue take for granted at a much greater age.
So far, no children have yet to be brought to the UK under the Dubs amendment which went through parliament earlier this year. This legislation allows for a limited number of children who do not have family connections in the UK to be brought to safety. The Calais camp will be demolished any day soon, and it is vital that the Government acts on this legislation before this happens and even more youngsters are lost.
Please continue to press Amber Rudd on this. If you are able to, please consider donating to Phone Credit for Refugees, a group dedicated to ensuring that all unaccompanied minors, at least, have phone credit before the demolition, so that they can stay in touch with volunteers and stay safe.
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