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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/05/calais-residents-protest-jungle-refugee-camp-not-racist-problem-getting-worse
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| Calais residents: we are not racist but this problem is getting worse | Calais residents: we are not racist but this problem is getting worse |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| There is a term that sums up how people in Calais feel about the refugee camp known as the “Jungle”: ras-le-bol. Literally it means to have had a bowlful; more generally it means they are fed up. | There is a term that sums up how people in Calais feel about the refugee camp known as the “Jungle”: ras-le-bol. Literally it means to have had a bowlful; more generally it means they are fed up. |
| French lorry drivers and farmers began a protest early on Monday on the A16, converging near the entrance to the Channel tunnel and ferry terminals. They say they will keep up their blockade unless a date is set for dismantling the camp, threatening severe travel disruption in France and the UK. | French lorry drivers and farmers began a protest early on Monday on the A16, converging near the entrance to the Channel tunnel and ferry terminals. They say they will keep up their blockade unless a date is set for dismantling the camp, threatening severe travel disruption in France and the UK. |
| On Monday, residents of Calais joined the protest to say “enough is enough”. | On Monday, residents of Calais joined the protest to say “enough is enough”. |
| As they walked in a human chain in front of the convoy of lorries and tractors, they spoke of their fear, frustration and anger, but also of their sympathy for the plight of the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 migrants and refugees living in Europe’s biggest and most notorious open-air squat. | |
| “We are not racist and we are not Front National. We understand there is a humanitarian question here, that there are people living in misery, but we are living with incivility and a growing feeling of insecurity,” said Jean-Pierre Clipet, of the FDSEA farmers’ union. | “We are not racist and we are not Front National. We understand there is a humanitarian question here, that there are people living in misery, but we are living with incivility and a growing feeling of insecurity,” said Jean-Pierre Clipet, of the FDSEA farmers’ union. |
| “And some of the migrants are becoming more and more aggressive. There is a group effect here. But this problem is getting worse.” | “And some of the migrants are becoming more and more aggressive. There is a group effect here. But this problem is getting worse.” |
| People smugglers are reported to be going to extreme lengths in Calais to get people to the UK, with vehicles being torched, petrol bombs thrown and trees being felled to block roads before drivers are threatened with chainsaws and machetes. | People smugglers are reported to be going to extreme lengths in Calais to get people to the UK, with vehicles being torched, petrol bombs thrown and trees being felled to block roads before drivers are threatened with chainsaws and machetes. |
| Gangs are paid thousands of pounds by vulnerable people to get them to Calais, from where some are smuggled to Britain to work to pay off huge debts. | Gangs are paid thousands of pounds by vulnerable people to get them to Calais, from where some are smuggled to Britain to work to pay off huge debts. |
| Smugglers have allegedly been causing crashes on the roads to the port by hurling large objects at cars and then stowing away on lorries caught up in the traffic jams that pile up behind. | Smugglers have allegedly been causing crashes on the roads to the port by hurling large objects at cars and then stowing away on lorries caught up in the traffic jams that pile up behind. |
| “Every time they are pushed out of the town, they come to us,” said Clipet. “Getting to England is their goal so if they are stopped one way, they will try another way.” | “Every time they are pushed out of the town, they come to us,” said Clipet. “Getting to England is their goal so if they are stopped one way, they will try another way.” |
| Christophe Delacourt, 49, a Eurotunnel maintenance technician, showed photos on his phone of his car windscreen – smashed by angry migrants and refugees, he said. | Christophe Delacourt, 49, a Eurotunnel maintenance technician, showed photos on his phone of his car windscreen – smashed by angry migrants and refugees, he said. |
| “I was driving to work last Tuesday morning around 5am when about 20 to 30 of them tried to get on a lorry,” he said. “When it didn’t stop and they failed, they grabbed tree branches and started attacking my car. Of course, I was afraid.” | “I was driving to work last Tuesday morning around 5am when about 20 to 30 of them tried to get on a lorry,” he said. “When it didn’t stop and they failed, they grabbed tree branches and started attacking my car. Of course, I was afraid.” |
| Delacourt said Eurotunnel had advised its employees to take smaller roads to work. | Delacourt said Eurotunnel had advised its employees to take smaller roads to work. |
| Sebastien Fournier, 36, who joined the march on Monday, said his wife was afraid to drive to the supermarket with their young child in the car. | |
| “She doesn’t dare go to the shopping centre with the baby in the car,” he said. “This isn’t normal. Every day it’s getting worse and worse. We don’t want confrontation with the migrants. We just want to go to work. And it’s sad because it’s turning the local population racist.” | “She doesn’t dare go to the shopping centre with the baby in the car,” he said. “This isn’t normal. Every day it’s getting worse and worse. We don’t want confrontation with the migrants. We just want to go to work. And it’s sad because it’s turning the local population racist.” |
| Ludovic Demol, 45, said he was driving to work at 5am on the A16 two months ago with three colleagues when they stopped at road blocks. “A hundred or so men attacked our car with iron bars and sticks. We got out and ran away. You can imagine how frightened I was,” he said. | Ludovic Demol, 45, said he was driving to work at 5am on the A16 two months ago with three colleagues when they stopped at road blocks. “A hundred or so men attacked our car with iron bars and sticks. We got out and ran away. You can imagine how frightened I was,” he said. |
| Pressure has been growing on the French authorities to tackle the problems at the camp. Talks took place on Friday between protest organisers and the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, who has promised to gradually dismantle the camp and move asylum seekers to other parts of France. | Pressure has been growing on the French authorities to tackle the problems at the camp. Talks took place on Friday between protest organisers and the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, who has promised to gradually dismantle the camp and move asylum seekers to other parts of France. |
| Farmers complain the increased security and ever higher fences around the tunnel and port have only shifted the problem elsewhere; mostly into their fields. | Farmers complain the increased security and ever higher fences around the tunnel and port have only shifted the problem elsewhere; mostly into their fields. |
| Those who joined the demonstration spoke of being attacked by stone-throwing young people as they worked on their farms and said they had found migrants and refugees near their homes and outbuildings, or beating a path across their crops. | Those who joined the demonstration spoke of being attacked by stone-throwing young people as they worked on their farms and said they had found migrants and refugees near their homes and outbuildings, or beating a path across their crops. |
| Pierre-Yves, 47, who had come to join the motorway go-slow in his tractor, said: “We are not racist, we are not political, but we are in a situation that is not going away and we’re having difficulty seeing the end, the solution. Farmlands are being squatted, crops damaged, and our turnover is hit. | Pierre-Yves, 47, who had come to join the motorway go-slow in his tractor, said: “We are not racist, we are not political, but we are in a situation that is not going away and we’re having difficulty seeing the end, the solution. Farmlands are being squatted, crops damaged, and our turnover is hit. |
| “This area has always welcomed migrants. The Polish came to work in the mines, Belgians like my grandmother came to work in the lace industry. But back then there were jobs and work. In the current economic situation, it’s not possible.” | “This area has always welcomed migrants. The Polish came to work in the mines, Belgians like my grandmother came to work in the lace industry. But back then there were jobs and work. In the current economic situation, it’s not possible.” |
| Like many others at the demonstration, Vincent Cocquet, 41, said he feared the growing tension would lead to deaths. “We now confront this problem day after day, night after night and we all fear this is going to finish badly,” he said. “Very badly.” | Like many others at the demonstration, Vincent Cocquet, 41, said he feared the growing tension would lead to deaths. “We now confront this problem day after day, night after night and we all fear this is going to finish badly,” he said. “Very badly.” |
| Bertrand Bauy, 50, a cereal and livestock farmer, said: “This will end in a tragedy … Calais used to be a dynamic town, now it is dead. We don’t see people coming here, shopping in the supermarkets like they used to. And it’s the people of Calais who are suffering.” | Bertrand Bauy, 50, a cereal and livestock farmer, said: “This will end in a tragedy … Calais used to be a dynamic town, now it is dead. We don’t see people coming here, shopping in the supermarkets like they used to. And it’s the people of Calais who are suffering.” |
| Frédéric van Gansbeke, the president of the Calais business and shop owners collective, said the action on Monday was a demonstration of the frustration and anger among residents. | Frédéric van Gansbeke, the president of the Calais business and shop owners collective, said the action on Monday was a demonstration of the frustration and anger among residents. |
| “We won’t be moving until the state gives us a date for the total dismantling of the northern zone of the ‘Jungle’,” he said. | “We won’t be moving until the state gives us a date for the total dismantling of the northern zone of the ‘Jungle’,” he said. |
| Richard Burnett, the chief executive of the UK’s Road Haulage Association (RHA), told the BBC on Monday he backed demands for for the camp to be demolished, but said he was very concerned about the impact of the protest. “If this blockade blocks the port up then it’s going to strangle the port and we are going to see implications back on British soil as well as French,” he said. | Richard Burnett, the chief executive of the UK’s Road Haulage Association (RHA), told the BBC on Monday he backed demands for for the camp to be demolished, but said he was very concerned about the impact of the protest. “If this blockade blocks the port up then it’s going to strangle the port and we are going to see implications back on British soil as well as French,” he said. |
| But he added: “There needs to be a clear plan that shows how the camp is going to be dismantled. Drivers have been attacked on a daily basis for months. And there has been insufficient resource to protect.” | But he added: “There needs to be a clear plan that shows how the camp is going to be dismantled. Drivers have been attacked on a daily basis for months. And there has been insufficient resource to protect.” |
| French authorities have made repeated efforts to shut down the camp, which the state was responsible for creating in April 2015 when authorities evicted migrants and refugees from squats and outdoor camps across the Calais area and concentrated them into one patch of wasteland without shelter. | French authorities have made repeated efforts to shut down the camp, which the state was responsible for creating in April 2015 when authorities evicted migrants and refugees from squats and outdoor camps across the Calais area and concentrated them into one patch of wasteland without shelter. |
| Earlier this year, Calais residents and business leaders sent a delegation to see the president, François Hollande, at the Elysée Palace to demand that the region be declared in a “state of exceptional economic catastrophe”. | Earlier this year, Calais residents and business leaders sent a delegation to see the president, François Hollande, at the Elysée Palace to demand that the region be declared in a “state of exceptional economic catastrophe”. |
| Dismantling the “Jungle” is already high on France’s 2017 presidential election agenda. | Dismantling the “Jungle” is already high on France’s 2017 presidential election agenda. |
| On Monday, the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who hopes to stand again in 2017, called on the British to set up their own holding centre on the other side of the Channel. | On Monday, the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who hopes to stand again in 2017, called on the British to set up their own holding centre on the other side of the Channel. |
| He told the local paper Nord de Clair that he would go to London the day after an election win to renegotiate Le Touquet, the border agreement between France and the UK. “I want our British friends to take responsibility for the requests of those who want to claim asylum there in a closed centre in Great Britain, and to equally take responsibility for the return of those whose applications are refused,” said Sarkozy. “It’s not on French soil that we should treat cases of demands to enter into British territory.” | He told the local paper Nord de Clair that he would go to London the day after an election win to renegotiate Le Touquet, the border agreement between France and the UK. “I want our British friends to take responsibility for the requests of those who want to claim asylum there in a closed centre in Great Britain, and to equally take responsibility for the return of those whose applications are refused,” said Sarkozy. “It’s not on French soil that we should treat cases of demands to enter into British territory.” |