Mistrust, language barriers and mist: An Irish volunteer's account of the Calais evacuation

YESTERDAY, PEOPLE BEGAN leaving The Jungle in Calais in their thousands.

It marked the first day that French authorities began to dismantle the makeshift refugee camp in the French port city of Calais.

By the end of the week, hopes are that the thousands of men, women and children fleeing from war, persecution and poverty will have travelled to one of three registration centres designated for Calais refugees.

The camp, which is known as ‘The Jungle’ because of the danger and disorganisation of the makeshift shelters, but also symbolises a new beginning and a safe haven for so many migrants, has been earmarked for closure since the beginning of the year.

In the intervening period, there have been a few hard-fisted attempts to close the camp: bulldozers were sent in to demolish it in March of this year, and refugees staged a sit in protest against it.

Some members of the camp sewed their lips together and held signs saying “Now will you listen?”

This is just one of the reasons why the evacuation of the camp has been so difficult, according to Isolda Heavey; a volunteer from Dublin who has been helping out at the camp on-and-off for the past year.

“There have been so many false alarms, so many attempts that have been called off, so people don’t 100% believe it. There’s also a mistrust of the French authorities. The last evacuation was quite violent.”

A wristband is attached to a migrant at a processing centre at The Jungle. Emilio Morenatti / PA Images Emilio Morenatti / PA Images / PA Images

Calling from The Jungle yesterday, she told TheJournal.ie of the evacuation process.

“This morning, a very very heavy police presence arrived in the camp, and refugees began lining up into groups – such as families and women. They are offered one of three locations where they can travel to, they’re documented and then sent there on a bus.”

We’re still not sure what’s going to happen after that.

Access to the camp has become very restricted – very little volunteers are allowed in. Isolda and her colleagues were in the process of requesting access to the camp when the interview was conducted.

“It’s tense but calm at the moment. There’s a warehouse for processing people from the camp and a container has been cleared out to process the children.”

“People are working very hard to translate what’s happening, which is difficult to do because the information is very late at coming across. People are still hoping they can get to the UK.”

A resident carrying his luggage out of 'The Jungle' yesterday. Thibault Camus Thibault Camus

Of the photos and videos emerging from the first day, the mist seems to add to the gloom of the whole affair.

Heavey says that the weather could be a real problem once the structures begin to be torn down and those who are still in the camp – either because they refuse to leave or they still have to be processed – are left without shelter.

French authorities had hoped that of the 6,000/7,000 in the camp, 2,500 would arrive at the reception areas around the country.

Last night, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said a total of 2,318 migrants were “taken to shelter” on the first day of the operation, suggesting that the message had been received by the refugees.

Of these, “1,918 adults left Calais on board 45 buses to go to 80 reception and orientation centres situated in 11 regions of France,” Cazeneuve told reporters yesterday.

Around 400 minors had also been “taken to provisional reception centres” within the camp ahead of their transfer elsewhere, he added.

The dismantling of the camp has been called a ‘humanitarian’ operation, as the conditions are unlivable: but for those living in the camps, they fear the demolition could equate to their deportation – and a return to the country from which they fled in fear.

A vendor sells cigarettes to a customer at a shop inside 'The Jungle'. Calais’ residents can see how tantalisingly close they are to their goal: at night, lighthouses on the Kent coast make England look so close. Markus Schreiber Markus Schreiber

“The camp in its current form has to go,” according to Isolda. “It’s a dire place: there have been 33 deaths this year of people on the roads trying to get to the UK.

“This is not something that can remain, but there’s no provision where people can be treated humanely either.”

The big fear is to be deported – there are people who have been tortured by the Taliban and now that Afghanistan has been declared safe, deportation can be potentially fatal for these people.

Irish volunteers

A year ago, an Irish Irish convoy called ‘Cork to Calais’ travelled to help out at the refugee camp. The team of 52 members were made up of medics, builders, cleaners, and a media team, and brought truckloads of aid with them that the people of Ireland had donated.

Some of that team continued to help the refugees at the camp through fundraising efforts in Ireland, and getting involved in medical, educational, and  child protection structures within the camp.

Isolda was one of the volunteers who stayed on. One of the ways she helps out at the camp is through recording migrants playing music. She then uploads the music to Bandcamp.com and any money made is given to the musicians in the camp.

She says that when she returns to Ireland and plays the music by members of the camp, that is when people really feel for the Calais refugees.

When I play their music, it’s the warmth in that that people at home can identify with and that makes them think: “I’d like to know that person”.

“And it’s not just the ones who have degrees: the impoverished people are so hospitable too that it makes you think: why wouldn’t our society be better off with these people?”

With additional reporting from AFP.

Read: Chaos breaks out as French police try and force refugees out of ‘Jungle’ camp

Read: Hundreds to be moved as France to begin bulldozing ‘The Jungle’ migrant camp