Life for the displaced in Calais
After the closure in 2016 of the Calais refugee camp known as the 'Jungle', crossing to the UK from France has become even more dangerous, mostly as a result of increased state security measures and the militarisation of the border.
A camp in Calais in February 2025
According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 78 people died attempting to reach the UK in small boats in 2024, the highest number yet.
Tents were seized after a police eviction in February 2025
A camp where young Sudanese people live (left) and the sea at Calais
There are about 700 displaced people in Calais, mainly from Sudan, Syria and Eritrea. They are not permitted to put up tents and the police in the seaside city carry out evictions of the camps three times a week.
According to demonstrators at a protest against these policies in January, the evictions are carried out at a fast pace, with tents and sleeping bagsseized by the authorities, who are desperate to prevent another permanent camp being set up.
The beach at Calais, where the authorities are attempting to transform the image of the city
A camp in the woods (left) and people washing their clothes
The city's hostile environment includes barbed wire, boulders to prevent tents from being erected, and surveillance devices. This is a result of an agreement under which the UK has paid the French government hundreds of millions of pounds to deter displaced people from coming to Calais and attempting to cross the Channel.
Despite this inhospitable urban landscape, the municipality of Calais has been attempting to attract more tourists.
This was symbolised by the appearance in 2019 of the 'Calais dragon', a fire-breathing colossus built of steel and carved wood. The construction, which can carry 50 visitors at a time, was the first stage of the planned renewal of the city.
Young Sudanese men in Calais in January 2025. They fled their country due to the civil war.
According to the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and North Sea, the increased surveillance and policing of the Calais beaches has led displaced people to attempt more perilous routes from other points along the coast, some as far south as Dieppe.
It says this maritime sector is one of the busiest in the world, 'with more than 600 commercial vessels passing through it every day and the weather conditions are often difficult, making it particularly dangerous, even when the sea seems calm'.
Last week, for instance, the French navy's public service patrol boat Cormoran rescued 77 occupants of a small boat who had called for help and brought them back to Calais.
After being evicted from a city centre encampment, two men move their tent to avoid police seizure
Zizo, 21, from Sudan, dreams of becoming a hairdresser in the UK
Figures released by the UK Home Office show that 36,816 people crossed the Channel in small boats last year.
Everyone on the coast at Calais is aware that attempting the journey is a life-threatening proposition, but more are undertaking it: crossings this year have increased by more than 40% compared with the same period in 2024.
Rocks and boulders placed to prevent the displaced from setting up tents
People attempt to keep warm in December last year (left) and playing cards at a day centre for people in exile
The family of a seven-year-old girl who was crushed to death on a small boat participated in the protest in January.
Ahmed Alhashimi, an Iraqi, lost grasp of his daughter Sara on an inflatable dinghy after a large group of men rushed onboard as it was pulling away from the shores of Wimereux, south of Calais.
It was the family's fourth attempt at a crossing of the Channel since they had arrived in the Pas de Calais region two months earlier.
The Alhashimi family carry photographs of their daughter and sister Sara who eight when she died at sea in northern France in April 2024.
Ferhad (left) fled Kuwait because he is Christian and does not feel safe there and Necmettin, who is Sudanese, has been in Calais for three months
Reform UK's Andrea Jenkyns, in her victory speech after being elected as the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire this week, said: 'We will tackle illegal migration. We've been working on policies.
'I say no to putting people in hotels. Tents are good enough for France. They should be good enough for here in Britain.'
In Calais, the displaced are denied even the shelter of tents.
Young Sudanese prepare banners in their native Arabic for a protest against their treatment in Calais
People in exile carry a mock coffin that they made for a demonstration in Calais
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
EU could approve Mercosur deal by summer, agriculture chief says
BRUSSELS, June 5 (Reuters) - The European Union could approve its planned trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur before summer, but it has not yet fixed a date to do so, EU agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen told Reuters on Thursday. "It could be before summer," Hansen said in an interview. EU nations still need to approve the deal, which was finalised in December but has faced opposition from members including France, which argues that the pact would hurt European farmers who face stricter norms and regulations than their South American peers. French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed their differences on the pact at a meeting in Paris on Thursday. Macron said the text could be improved with the insertion of mirror clauses. France has previously argued for the insertion of an emergency break clause to restrict imports if a sudden surge in imports destabilises certain EU markets. "This would indeed require that we go back to the table and reopen. I don't think that this would be helpful in this situation," Hansen said of the idea of resuming negotiations with Mercosur countries to add new safeguards to the deal. "I see from many different parts of the agriculture and food sector, they are really looking for having these new opportunities," he added.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Sex assault horror across Paris after PSG Champions League win: Shocking footage shows huge mob surround terrified women's car and smash window as other victims describe sexual violence
Violent riots gripped the French capital on Saturday night after Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League win - with horrifying videos and testimony revealing how women were targeted by thuggish football fans. Shocking video has shown how a huge mob attacked a pair of young women, screaming at them, climbing on their car and smashing its windows in as they tried to drive through the city. The terrified women are seen cowering as the hordes of men intimidated them. Video of the onslaught cuts out shortly after a window is smashed in, making it unclear what happened next. Some 500 people were arrested, two people died and almost 200 were injured during the riots, according to France's interior ministry. Shops were vandalised and looted, cars and motorbikes set on fire and people were stabbed during the Paris riots, with violence also seen elsewhere in France. Predominantly male crowds, large parts of which were buzzing off a mixture of alcohol and PSG's win, took over the streets, with women reporting a hostile atmosphere across the city. A Parisian student called Dounia, who went out with friends to celebrate the victory on the banks of the Seine, described how she was sexually and verbally assaulted by visibly drunk PSG supporters. 'A man in his forties approached me, holding a flask of alcohol. I saw him approaching and suddenly I felt his hand grab my buttocks,' the 18-year-old told Le Parisien. She told the outlet that she is still in shock days later. 'It was his reaction when I turned around that was the most telling,' the young woman said. 'He insulted me and pushed me violently, before walking away with his friend.' TikTok creator Lily-Rose described feeling 'scared for my life' as she cycled through the city shortly after the game finished. She described having shards of glass bottles thrown at her and feeling as though she would be knocked off her bike at any moment. 'Luckily, they landed on the bike frame and I wasn't hit,' she sighs in a TikTok video. 'My evening was ruined. It was supposed to be a moment of euphoria and joy, but that didn't take into account this problematic and misogynistic behavior,' she added. 'When you see the way you behave, it's scary, it's terrifying. I'm shaking, I'm traumatized, I thought I was going to die several times.' Other female PSG fans hoping to celebrate their team's success said they were unable to spend any more than fifteen minutes in the crowd before being assaulted. 'We had two hands on our asses and one on our breasts,' one of the friends reportedly said. 'We want to party but we can't.' Footage of the horrific attacks was widely condemned online, but also met with more misogynistic comments. 'Why were you out?' men on Instagram, X and TikTok responded to women's complaints. While many shops on the Champs-Elysees were protected ahead of the Champions League final, some did not escape damage Other vile comments read: 'You're a girl and you're going to celebrate PSG on the Champs-Elysées, that counts in the bodycount ' and 'The girls who are going to be on the Champs-Elysées on the 31st, we already know why you're there'. 'You're a woman and you're going to Paris when you know it's going to be chaos whether we win or lose. Are you stupid?' another person said. Dounia said the responses angered her even more, and that women should be 'able to go out into the street freely, whether there's a sporting event or not.' Statistics show that there are 114,000 sexual assaults are recorded in France every year - equivalent to one every four minutes. Of the victims, 85 per cent are women, and nearly 50 per cent of French women say they feel unsafe in public spaces. Speaking to PSG players at the Élysée Palace on Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the 'unacceptable' violence seen on the streets the night before. 'Nothing can justify what has happened in recent hours, the violent clashes are unacceptable. We will pursue, we will punish, we will be relentless.'
Economist
6 hours ago
- Economist
The constitution that never was still haunts Europe 20 years on
Europe is famed for its zippy German cars, French high-speed trains and sleek Italian motorboats. But for decades the contraption most often favoured to describe the workings of the European Union was the humble bicycle. Federalists painted the EU as an inherently unstable machine whose only chance to avoid a crash was to keep moving forward. The self-serving analogy justified furious pedalling by those who dreamed of 'ever-closer union' lest the whole thing keel over. By the early 2000s the argument that more integration was always better had made its way. What had once been a modest pact between six countries to regulate coal and steel production had morphed into a political union of 25 (later up to 28), with a shared currency, no internal borders and the rights for citizens from Lisbon to Lapland to settle down where they saw fit. Who could tell where a few more decades of such freewheeling towards continental convergence would lead?
