Displaying items by tag: Calais Jungle

Migrant aid workers in Calais are being intimidated and harassed by French police, with Britons singled out in some cases, according to a report submitted to France’s independent human rights watchdog. Four aid associations on the northern French port, including the British group Help Refugees, published a report detailing 600 incidents against volunteers between November 2017 and July 2018, citing 33 testimonies, 37 incidents of physical violence, including police pushing aid workers to the ground, confiscating phones and forcing people away from food distribution points. Other incidents include repeated identity checks and ‘stop and search’, arbitrary parking fines, threats, and insults. British volunteers were singled out and prevented from giving out food and water.  Those with British passports or British vehicles were barred entry to an area near Dunkirk to distribute meals to the homeless refugees and migrants. Calais' sprawling ‘Jungle’ camp was razed in 2016 but hundreds have returned, with the figures officially at 350 to 400 people.