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Calais crisis: 'It’s easier to leave us living like this if you say we are bad people' Calais crisis: 'It’s easier to leave us living like this if you say we are bad people'
(about 1 hour later)
On the edge of the “jungle”, just beneath the imposing security fence that separates the 3,000 people living in Calais’s migrant camp from the motorway that runs to the port, Tewedros lifts up the sleeve of his shirt to show his latest injury. On the edge of the “jungle”, just beneath the imposing security fence that separates the 3,000 people living in the Calais migrant camp from the motorway that runs to the port, Tewedros lifts up the sleeve of his shirt to show his latest injury.
Related: Calais crisis: Cameron condemned for 'dehumanising' description of migrantsRelated: Calais crisis: Cameron condemned for 'dehumanising' description of migrants
The 20-year-old, who fled Ethiopia two years ago after his father was killed, said a French policemen had hit him with a baton and then covered his face with pepper-spray. The 20-year-old, who says he fled Ethiopia two years ago after his father was killed, claims a French policeman hit him with a baton and then covered his face with pepper-spray.
“It was two days ago, up there,” he says pointing to fence where two police officers look down over the camp. “There were lorries queuing so we tried to get up but they hit us.” “It was two days ago, up there,” he says, pointing to a fence where two police officers look down over the camp. “There were lorries queuing so we tried to get up but they hit us.”
Standing with four friends in the morning sunshine on Thursday he shrugs his shoulders when asked how he feels. “This is not anything. It happens every day. Every one of us can tell you the same story. But much worse things are happening here.” Standing with four friends in the morning sunshine on Thursday, he shrugs his shoulders when asked how he feels. “This is not anything. It happens every day. Every one of us can tell you the same story. But much worse things are happening here.”
The UK prime minister, David Cameron, drew widespread criticism on Thursday for saying that the 185,000 men, women and children who have risked their lives to flee poverty, persecution and war in search a better life were “swarming” across the Mediterranean.The UK prime minister, David Cameron, drew widespread criticism on Thursday for saying that the 185,000 men, women and children who have risked their lives to flee poverty, persecution and war in search a better life were “swarming” across the Mediterranean.
Refugee advocates and political opponents said his comments were inflammatory and dehumanised some of the world’s most vulnerable and desperate people.Refugee advocates and political opponents said his comments were inflammatory and dehumanised some of the world’s most vulnerable and desperate people.
But in the jungle Muslim Hussain did not have time to feel affronted. Sitting in the afternoon sun as he prepared to make another exhausting trip to the Eurotunnel, 28-year-old Berakat complained that he was persecuted in his home country, Eritrea, for being Christian and now he is being persecuted for wanting to reach England. “Why are you closing the door?” he asked. “We’re not animals, barbarians.”
Hussain, whose cousin died two days ago when he fell off a moving train bound for the UK, was too busy trying to work out how he was going to get the body back to their family in a remote region of Pakistan. He arrived at the camp in April, and says he left his wife and children in Sudan to embark on a perilous 14-hour trip across the Mediterranean sea on a small boat crammed with migrants. In Calais, he lives opposite a 12 foot-high makeshift church where he can practice his religion freely.
Looking pale and drawn he said: “We are trying to find out where he is, which hospital but everything is very difficult here … I am trying but it is difficult.” Berakat, who talks while a friend shaves his head, says police had become more brutal in recent weeks – pointing to scars on his legs allegedly from an officer’s baton. “The police three months ago were good, now it’s a big problem,” he says. “They fight every day, police and jungle people.”
Hussain, speaking outside the makeshift field hospital run by medical charity Médicins du Monde, said his cousin Sadiq suffered serious head and chest injuries as the pair clung onto a moving train in the early hours of the morning. He died later the same day. Muslim Hussain says his cousin died two days ago when he fell off a moving train bound for the UK, and he is now trying to work out how to get the body back to their family in a remote region of Pakistan.
They had travelled together from a tribal area of Pakistan, which he said was increasingly dangerous, arriving in the jungle three months ago. Looking pale and drawn he says: “We are trying to find out where he is, which hospital, but everything is very difficult here … I am trying, but it is difficult.”
“We wanted somewhere safe where we could maybe work and send money back. But that is all gone now. Hussain, speaking outside the makeshift field hospital run by medical charity Médicins du Monde, says his cousin Sadiq suffered serious head and chest injuries as the pair clung on to a moving train in the early hours of the morning. He died later the same day.
They had travelled together from a tribal area of Pakistan, which, he says, was increasingly dangerous, arriving in the jungle three months ago.
“We wanted somewhere safe where we could maybe work and send money back. But that is all gone now.”
Sadiq is one of at least eight people from the jungle to die in recent weeks – although most migrants said on Thursday that they believed the figure was much higher.Sadiq is one of at least eight people from the jungle to die in recent weeks – although most migrants said on Thursday that they believed the figure was much higher.
Leigh Daynes, executive director of Médicins du Monde, said stories like Tewedros’s and Muslim’s were all too familiar. A short walk away, past a pop-up shop selling cans of fizzy drink and tinned vegetables, two Syrian friends say they have tried every day for two months to stop a UK-bound train so they can visit their family in London.
Raed, 30, and Abdullah, 28, say they fled their village after being shot by Islamic State militants. “Daesh [Islamic State] is not good,” says Raed, pointing to a bullet wound on his upper left arm. “Shot family. Shot my uncle. See a man – boom. See a woman – boom. See children – boom.”
Leigh Daynes, executive director of Médicins du Monde, says stories like Tewedros’s and Muslim’s were all too familiar.
“We’re treating a growing number of people who have been injured, many of them seriously, after falling from trucks and from police brutality. Almost all have fled their home countries because of armed conflict, political, religious or racial persecution. Many have endured extremely long, difficult and dangerous journeys.”“We’re treating a growing number of people who have been injured, many of them seriously, after falling from trucks and from police brutality. Almost all have fled their home countries because of armed conflict, political, religious or racial persecution. Many have endured extremely long, difficult and dangerous journeys.”
The situation in Calais is part of the wider crisis in which more than 185,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean into southern Europe since January. Most will try to claim asylum in other EU countries – Germany and Sweden top the list, with the UK more than halfway down.The situation in Calais is part of the wider crisis in which more than 185,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean into southern Europe since January. Most will try to claim asylum in other EU countries – Germany and Sweden top the list, with the UK more than halfway down.
But about 3,000 now live in Calais – a town that increasingly resembles a fortress, with hundreds of metres of high fences topped with razor-wire paid for by the UK government with more security measures promised. But about 3,000 now live in Calais – a town that increasingly resembles a fortress, with hundreds of metres of high fences topped with razor wire paid for by the UK government – with more security measures promised.
In the jungle, politicians’ focus on security and Cameron’s latest comments about “swarming” migrants did nothing to persuade those living here that French or UK officials either understood or cared about their plight.In the jungle, politicians’ focus on security and Cameron’s latest comments about “swarming” migrants did nothing to persuade those living here that French or UK officials either understood or cared about their plight.
“They don’t come here and talk to us so how do they know anything about us?” said Adil, 24, from Sudan, who has been in the camp for four months. “It’s easier to leave us living like this if you say we are bad people, not human.” “They don’t come here and talk to us so how do they know anything about us?” says Adil, 24, from Sudan, who has been in the camp for four months. “It’s easier to leave us living like this if you say we are bad people, not human.”
Charity workers agreed that governments had to do more to help those living here. Daynes said: “We are calling for a proportion of the funding allocated to Calais to be diverted towards meeting the serious and immediate humanitarian needs of migrants.” Charity workers agreed that governments had to do more to help those living here. Daynes says: “We are calling for a proportion of the funding allocated to Calais to be diverted towards meeting the serious and immediate humanitarian needs of migrants.”
For Tewedros, like many of those trying to make ends meet in the jungle, those “serious immediate needs” are fairly simple.For Tewedros, like many of those trying to make ends meet in the jungle, those “serious immediate needs” are fairly simple.
“We live on one meal in this mess. People are always ill and many are dying ... Every night I walk miles to try and get on trains or lorries. I am always tired and hungry and I have no money.”“We live on one meal in this mess. People are always ill and many are dying ... Every night I walk miles to try and get on trains or lorries. I am always tired and hungry and I have no money.”