Calais Jungle: Difference between revisions

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The camp was located on a former [[landfill]] site to the east of Calais. By July 2015, it had 3,000 inhabitants and continued to grow. Although estimates of the number of migrants differed, a [[Help Refugees]] [[census]] gave a figure of 8,143 people just before the camp's demolition in October 2016. As well as residences, the Jungle contained shops, restaurants, hairdressers, schools, places of worship and a boxing club.

==Statistics==

[[File:Calais2015d.jpg|thumb|left|Tents at the jungle in October 2015]]

 

[[Médecins du Monde]] stated in 2015 that 62% of the migrants in Calais were young men with an average age of 33, with an increase in the number unaccompanied children (517 in 2014, eight times more than in 2011).<ref name="VdN">{{cite news |last1=La Voix du Nord |title=Médecins du Monde alerte sur la situation des migrants |url=http://www.nordeclair.fr/archive/recup/france-monde/acces-aux-soins-medecins-du-monde-alerte-sur-la-jna0b0n897938 |access-date=21 August 2019 |work=Nordéclair |date=15 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611022311/http://www.nordeclair.fr/archive/recup/france-monde/acces-aux-soins-medecins-du-monde-alerte-sur-la-jna0b0n897938 |archive-date=11 June 2019 |language=fr |quote=Si à Calais se trouvent de nombreux femmes et enfants, la population des centres d’accueil est en majorité jeune et masculine (62% d’hommes, 33 ans de moyenne d’âge). MDM note une augmentation des mineurs étrangers isolés (517 accueillis en 2014, un chiffre multiplié par 8 depuis 2011), soumis par l’Etat à « des tests de maturation osseuse absolument pas fiables », dénonce Mme Sivignon, pour déterminer leur âge et savoir s’ils peuvent être pris en charge par l’aide sociale à l’enfance.}}</ref> Many migrants later moved to smaller camps near Calais and [[Dunkirk]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/07/calais-french-migrant-camps-refugee-crisis|title=The most shocking thing about Calais is that it's not even too big to solve|date=7 January 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|last1=Cooper|first1=Yvette|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221150818/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/07/calais-french-migrant-camps-refugee-crisis|archive-date=21 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Avoid">{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/08/france-refugees-avoid-jungle-150826082244714.html|title=France: Where refugees go to avoid 'the jungle'|publisher=Al Jazeera|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225115551/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/08/france-refugees-avoid-jungle-150826082244714.html|archive-date=25 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> As of November 2015, there were an estimated 6,000 migrants living in Calais,<ref>{{cite news|title=France has less and less influence in the EU, and fears to use what it still has|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21677987-france-has-less-and-less-influence-eu-and-fears-use-what-it-still-has-dispensable|access-date=7 November 2015|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=7 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107041712/http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21677987-france-has-less-and-less-influence-eu-and-fears-use-what-it-still-has-dispensable|archive-date=7 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> policed by over 1,000 officers.<ref>A. Zemouri, '[https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/la-jungle-de-calais-inquiete-les-autorites-21-10-2015-1975691_23.php La "jungle" de Calais inquiète les autorités] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103112613/https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/la-jungle-de-calais-inquiete-les-autorites-21-10-2015-1975691_23.php |date=3 November 2018 }}' (21/10/15) in ''[[Le Point]]''</ref> That winter, the number of arrivals decreased while a number of migrants left the camp, such as 3,569 who were "welcomed to France".<ref name="MS">M. Solletty, '[https://www.francetvinfo.fr/france/hauts-de-france/migrants-a-calais/infographie-l-explosion-du-nombre-de-migrants-a-calais-en-un-graphique_1806381.html INFOGRAPHIE. L'explosion du nombre de migrants à Calais en un graphique] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107135202/https://www.francetvinfo.fr/france/hauts-de-france/migrants-a-calais/infographie-l-explosion-du-nombre-de-migrants-a-calais-en-un-graphique_1806381.html |date=7 November 2018 }}' (02/09/16) on [[France Info (TV channel)|France Info]]</ref> At the end of February 2016, the [[BBC]] noted that there were differing figures for the population: "Calais officials say it houses 3,700, while [[Help Refugees]] puts it at 5,497".<ref name="BBC News 29 February 2016">{{cite news|title=EU migrant crisis: Clashes as France clears Calais 'Jungle'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35686209|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=29 February 2016|website=[[BBC News]]|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120010111/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35686209|archive-date=20 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Aid organisations put discrepancies between their and the authorities' figures down to different counting methods and a reluctance from migrants to speak to [[Border guard|border police]].<ref>[[Full Fact]], '[https://fullfact.org/immigration/counting-number-migrants-calais-jungle/ Counting the number of migrants in the Calais 'jungle'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002195813/https://fullfact.org/immigration/counting-number-migrants-calais-jungle/ |date=2 October 2016 }}' (31/08/16)</ref>

Residents built dwellings and set up amenities,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wainwright |first1=Oliver |title=We built this city: how the refugees of Calais became the camp's architects |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jun/08/refugees-calais-jungle-camp-architecture-festival-barbican |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=8 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429155519/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jun/08/refugees-calais-jungle-camp-architecture-festival-barbican |archive-date=29 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> including shops,<ref name="shoprazeblock"/> restaurants,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dent |first1=Nancy |title=The last days of the Calais Jungle's refugee restaurants |url=https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/activism-2/last-days-calais-jungles-refugee-restaurants/ |access-date=16 March 2020 |publisher=Huck |date=10 August 2016}}</ref> hair dressers and places of worship.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Plotain |first1=Myrtille |title=In the Restaurants of the Calais Jungle |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8qe79k/dans-les-restaurants-de-la-jungle |access-date=16 March 2020 |publisher=Vice |date=13 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117075829/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8qe79k/dans-les-restaurants-de-la-jungle |archive-date=17 November 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Food critic [[A. A. Gill]] ate at a nameless restaurant run by Mohammed Ali from [[Peshawar]], rating both food and atmosphere four out of five, commenting that the main course was "a properly, cleverly crafted and wholly unexpected dish, made with finesse".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gill |first1=A. A. |title=Table Talk: AA Gill reviews a refugee camp cafe in Calais's The Jungle |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/table-talk-aa-gill-reviews-a-refugee-camp-cafe-in-calaiss-the-jungle-zgxvfjqmw |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=The Times |date=28 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716001343/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/table-talk-aa-gill-reviews-a-refugee-camp-cafe-in-calaiss-the-jungle-zgxvfjqmw |archive-date=16 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> After an appeal by NGOs to the court in [[Lille]] that the amenities were vital for feeding residents, a judge blocked authorities from attempting to raze restaurants and shops in August 2016, ruling there was no legal basis for the demolitions.<ref name="shoprazeblock">{{cite news |last1=Chrisafis |first1=Angelique |title=French court rejects bid to demolish shops at Jungle refugee camp |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/12/french-lille-court-calais-jungle-refugee-camp |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=12 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425152727/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/12/french-lille-court-calais-jungle-refugee-camp |archive-date=25 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

 

 

A number of NGOs worked to provide refugee relief, including the French associations L'Aubergue des Migrants, Salam, [[Caritas Internationalis|Secours Catholique]], and Utopia 56. A number of foreign NGOs were also present, including [[Help Refugees]] (working in partnership with L'Auberge des Migrants), Refugee Community Kitchen, Calais Kitchens, Belgium Kitchen, [[Calais Action]], Care4Calais, and Refugee Info Bus.<ref name="Who">{{cite web |title=Who's Who |url=http://www.calaidipedia.co.uk/who-s-who-1 |website=Calaidipedia |access-date=1 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011053640/http://www.calaidipedia.co.uk/who-s-who-1 |archive-date=11 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="WG"/> Between them they provided food, material aid, legal information, sanitation and shelter.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Tim |last2=Lounasmaa |first2=Aura |last3=Squire |first3=Corinne |editor1-last=Birey |editor1-first=Tegiye |editor2-last=Cantat |editor2-first=Céline |editor3-last=Maczynska |editor3-first=Ewa |editor4-last=Sevinin |editor4-first=Eda |title=From margin to centre? Practising new forms of European politics and citizenship in the Calais 'Jungle' |journal=Challenging the Political Across Borders: Migrants' and Solidarity Struggles |page=103 |url=https://cps.ceu.edu/sites/cps.ceu.edu/files/attachment/publication/3118/cps-book-challenging-political-2019.pdf |access-date=16 March 2020 |publisher=Central European University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212135015/https://cps.ceu.edu/sites/cps.ceu.edu/files/attachment/publication/3118/cps-book-challenging-political-2019.pdf |archive-date=12 December 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/20/van-calais-migrants-help-homemade-humanitarian-mission|title=A homemade humanitarian mission: what it's like to take donations to Calais|first1=Carmen|last1=Fishwick|date=25 May 2019|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=25 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525221130/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/20/van-calais-migrants-help-homemade-humanitarian-mission|archive-date=25 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Educational services were provided by Jungle Books, the Ecole Laïque chemins des dunes and by [[Edlumino]].<ref name="Who" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Scott|first1=Natalie|title=Teaching in France's refugee camps|url=http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/news/teaching-in-frances-refugee-camps/|access-date=27 April 2017|publisher=SecEd|date=27 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525185224/http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/news/teaching-in-frances-refugee-camps/ |archive-date=25 May 2019}}</ref> Specialist services for women and children were run by the Unofficial Women's and Children's Centre<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rosen |first1=Rachel |last2=Twamley |first2=Katherine |title=Feminism and the Politics of Childhood: Friends or Foes? |date=2018 |publisher=UCL Press |page=109 |jstor=j.ctt21c4t9k.13 }}</ref> and the Refugee Youth Service.<ref name="leisure"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Godin |first1=Marie |title=Women and Young Girls at Risk as Camps in Calais Are Cleared |url=https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/articles/2016/10/28/women-and-young-girls-at-risk-as-camps-in-calais-are-cleared |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=Refugees Deeply |date=28 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517214641/https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/articles/2016/10/28/women-and-young-girls-at-risk-as-camps-in-calais-are-cleared |archive-date=17 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> NGOs also provided recreation:<ref name="leisure">{{cite journal |last1=McGee |first1=Darragh |last2=Pelham |first2=Juliette |s2cid=148717892 |title=Politics at play: locating human rights, refugees and grassroots humanitarianism in the Calais Jungle |journal=Leisure Studies |date=24 November 2017 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=22–35 |doi=10.1080/02614367.2017.1406979 |url=https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/158693124/Final_Draft.pdf |access-date=16 March 2020}}</ref> such as a boxing club<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schaller |first1=Alan |title=How sports and activities in the Calais jungle are improving the lives and mental health of the camp's residents |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/calaig-jungle-boxing-club-how-activities-in-the-calais-jungle-affect-the-lives-and-mental-health-of-a7237981.html |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=The Independent |date=12 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220180800/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/calaig-jungle-boxing-club-how-activities-in-the-calais-jungle-affect-the-lives-and-mental-health-of-a7237981.html |archive-date=20 February 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the Good Chance Theatre,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ruffini |first1=Rosaria |title=Alle soglie d'Europa: Il Good Chance Theatre e la sperimentazione di linguaggi performativi nei centri di prima accoglienza e nei campi per rifugiati |journal=European Journal of Theatre and Performance |date=2019 |issue=1}}</ref> which ran from a dome doubling as a community space for other activities.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Haydon |first1=Christopher |title=Between the razor-wire and the riot police: the amazing shows I saw at the Calais Jungle theatre |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/feb/18/calais-jungle-refugees-good-chance-theatre |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=18 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119182849/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/feb/18/calais-jungle-refugees-good-chance-theatre |archive-date=19 January 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==In popular culture==

* 2015: Written with Nadene Ghouri, ''The Lightless Sky'' is Gulwali Passarlay's memoir of his journey from Afghanistan to the UK as a twelve year old. Passarlay's time in the Jungle features in the book.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Popescu |first1=Lucy |title=The Lightless Sky, by Gulwali Passarlay – book review: A refugee's long, hard road to a new life |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-lightless-sky-by-gulwali-passarlay-book-review-a-refugee-s-long-hard-road-to-a-new-life-a6706231.html |access-date=16 March 2020 |work=The Independent |date=25 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215014620/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-lightless-sky-by-gulwali-passarlay-book-review-a-refugee-s-long-hard-road-to-a-new-life-a6706231.html |archive-date=15 February 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Halkon |first1=Ruth |title=The Taliban tried to recruit him as suicide bomber but he ended up carrying the OLYMPIC TORCH |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/taliban-tried-recruit-him-suicide-6671842 |access-date=16 March 2020 |publisher=Daily Mirror |date=20 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629221810/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/taliban-tried-recruit-him-suicide-6671842 |archive-date=29 June 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

* 2016: Jérôme Sessini made a photo report for [[Magnum Photos]] about the Jungle.<ref name="magnum">{{cite web |last1=Sessini |first1=Jérôme |title=The Calais Jungle |url=https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/the-calais-jungle/ |website=Magnum |access-date=7 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507194147/https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/the-calais-jungle/ |archive-date=7 May 2019 |url-status=live |date=26 May 2016 }}</ref>

*2016: Comic book author [[Lisa Mandel]] and sociologist Yasmine Bouagga depict the daily lives of migrants in the Jungle through a blog, ''Les Nouvelles de la jungle'', using interviews and observations from their personal excursions to Calais. They later compiled the comic strips into a book titled ''Les Nouvelles de la jungle de Calais'', which won the Coup de Cœur 2017 of the Centre national de la littérature pour la jeunesse (BnF).<ref>{{Cite web|title=La jungle de Calais en BD : drôles de chroniques|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/bd/2017/03/07/03014-20170307ARTFIG00016-la-jungle-de-calais-en-bd-droles-de-chroniques.php|access-date=2020-12-06|website=LEFIGARO|date=7 March 2017 |language=fr}}</ref>