Europe Must Act Newsletter
'A special newsletter by Calais Appeal', and Europe Must Act's #RoutesToRelocation campaign
4.11.2022
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Photo credit: Romain Kosselek
The warehouse shared by the organisations in Calais Appeal (Calais, France)
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Dear Readers,
Today we have a special newsletter for you: a piece by Calais Appeal - a group of humanitarian aid organisations, located in Northern France, that collaborate to provide food, firewood, clothing, information and basic shelter to people seeking safety; an introduction to Europe Must Act's new #RoutesToRelocation campaign; and a suggestion of the month!
As winter approaches, the situation on the ground at many of Europe’s border regions becomes more challenging - and the work of the organizations and activists on the ground becomes all the more important in advocating for and providing services to support asylum-seekers and refugees. Calais Appeal’s collaborative efforts in response to the terrible conditions in which many asylum seekers still live in Calais, six years after the demolition of the camp known as the Calais ‘Jungle’, are proof that a positive, welcoming, humane response to people seeking safety in Europe is possible - and that countless volunteers and aid workers demonstrate it on a daily basis.
Read on to find out more about Calais Appeal’s work and the current conditions in Calais, since the last situation update by Human Rights Observers, in our January newsletter earlier this year.
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'Winter approaches in Calais, a special newsletter by Calais Appeal'
Calais Appeal is an umbrella group representing 9 grassroots organisations* working in
Northern France. Between them, they provide food and water, clothing, tents, chopped wood
& hygiene items, psycho-social support to families and children, protection for women
experiencing violence or harassment through access to safe spaces, a mobile charging
station with access to wifi and sim cards and monthly reports by human rights observers on
state violence and forcible evictions perpetrated against displaced people.
* Calais Appeal includes Collective Aid, Refugee Community Kitchen, Refugee Info Bus,
Calais Food Collective, Utopia 56, Refugee Women’s Centre, Project Play and Auberge Des
Migrants, including their two projects Human Rights Observers and The Woodyard.
Rwanda & the mental health crisis
Since the notorious eviction of the informal ‘Jungle’ camp in 2016, Calais has only
occasionally featured in international media. But the reality on the ground remains
dangerous for thousands of people seeking safety. Despite the UK Government’s current
political freefall, the policies remain fortifying the border, feeding the hostile environment and
attempting to criminalise those seeking asylum. Although numbers fluctuate, there are an
estimated 1,500 - 2000 displaced people in 12 unofficial living sites across Calais and Dunkirk. Conditions are extremely unsafe, and many people also sleep rough in Calais city
centre under bridges and in parks.
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Refugee Info Bus (RIB) provides multilingual information during their mobile charging sessions.
Photo credit: RIB
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When the Rwanda deportation scheme was announced in April, the effect on the mental
health of displaced people was devastating and immediate. Legal services were unable to
confirm whether people risked being flown to Rwanda before their asylum claim had been
heard, and whether they would remain in Rwanda if their claim was accepted (under the
Government’s current plans, both of these would be true). The atmosphere was very tense
and despondent whilst people dealt with these uncertainties; the court case to determine the
future of the Rwanda scheme is still ongoing. Amidst this turmoil, Refugee Info Bus
continue to play a pivotal role in providing displaced people access to clear, multilingual
information about available services. They publish their monthly New Arrival Guide, as well
as providing a mobile wifi and charging station and distributing phones, cables and battery
packs.
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During the looming threat of the Rwanda deal, many Ukrainians were briefly accommodated
in Calais before being transferred to the UK. The success of the visa scheme for Ukrainians
shows that the UK & France are able to collaborate on providing safe passages to people
seeking safety. Grassroots organisations remain in Calais because the Government is failing
to fulfil this responsibility to people of other nationalities facing equally threatening
persecution. Around 80 to 90% of all asylum applications in the UK succeed either at the
initial stage or on appeal - these are people who deserve protection.
The summer months brought heatwaves and dangerous fires across Southern France and
much of Europe. In Calais, the issues caused by the heat are exacerbated for people on the
move. With minimal state provision of water and hygiene services, Calais Food Collective
provide 6 semi permanent water points close to living sites so that people have water for
drinking, washing, cooking and other sanitation purposes. Believing that food autonomy is
practically and psychologically important for people on the move, their other focus is on
distributing cooking ingredients so that people are able to cook for themselves. CFC also
engage in advocacy work, calling for long term, permanent water points alongside a range of
other organisations.
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Solidarity Criminalised
Police continue to create a hostile environment for people on the move under their banner of
‘zero fixation points’, including obstructing and harassing aid workers. Evictions are carried
out every 36 / 48 hours, during which people’s limited personal belongings - tents, blankets,
bags, identity papers, mobile phones, medicines & clothes - are often destroyed on the spot
or thrown into skips. Human Rights Observers document and denounce this state violence,
writing regular reports, documenting evictions and assisting in legal cases. In partnership
with Utopia 56, they assisted 6 displaced people in taking up a court case with local
authorities about an eviction in October 2021. They argued that the evictions were illegal as
no inventory was created of seized items, nor was a dedicated space communicated where
people could reclaim their belongings, and no order justifying the eviction was presented to
those evicted. The judge dismissed the claim, saying the claimants were unable to prove
they were present during the eviction - even though the judge cited witness statements
demonstrating proof of their presence.
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Boulders installed in Calais city-centre to prevent people from sitting down.
Photo credit: Auberge Des Migrants
One of the organisations working to replace possessions stolen during evictions is Collective Aid. They are one of the only groups distributing non-food items (clothes, tents, blankets, hygiene items and more) across Calais. Several times a week they will distribute essential items that keep people dry and warm. All groups distributing items have to work around the ‘arreté préfectorale’, decrees published every month outlining sites and streets across the city where the distribution of humanitarian aid is banned, with fines of over €130. After a 3 month break over Spring and during the French elections, the decrees were restarted in August. On October 12th a court in Lille ruled that 3 of the arreté préfectorale were unjustified and have now been overturned, allowing for distributions in these areas - a small victory. Nevertheless local authorities continue to disrupt the landscape by installing boulders, flooding living sites and generally making it unlivable and undignified for people on the move.
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Winter approaches
As winter approaches, organisations are gearing up for the cold weather. Women and
children are particularly vulnerable in Northern France as state services are extremely
limited, and many families will sleep outside in large living sites in Dunkirk. Project Play run
sessions with children and young people that help them cope with psychological distress,
and their themed sessions help children not in schooling to keep learning, developing and
playing. Refugee Women’s Centre work closely with women and families to help them
access state services, find available spaces in refuges and distribute clothes specifically to
families.
As the weather worsens, The Woodyard are ramping up their preparations. During the
winter months, chopped wood is essential for keeping warm and cooking. Between
November and March, volunteers chop, sort and distribute wood across living sites
throughout the cold season. The colder weather also highlights the importance of hot meals.
Refugee Community Kitchen continues to deliver hot, nutritious and culturally familiar
meals throughout the week. They also serve lunch to the volunteers of 8 other organisations
in our shared warehouse, sustaining a broader coalition of work through their tasty food.
November 24th will mark the one year anniversary since the drowning which claimed over
30 lives in the channel. Whilst the media attention has moved on from Calais, organisations
continue to stand alongside people seeking safety. As long as people seeking safety,
reuniting with their families and a new home are ignored and harassed by the authorities,
we’ll be here in solidarity.
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Groups in Calais are often looking for volunteers, and occasionally hired positions. Keep an eye out on our social media, @calaisappeal, and check out our website for more about our activities.
Since the loss of a significant funder in 2021, we are struggling to keep all of our operations run sustainably. A regular donation would help repair vans, buy desperately needed stock and feed hundreds of people a day. Please visit calaisappeal.co.uk (above) to find out more.
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Introducing |
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#RoutesToRelocation: Europe Must Act's new campaign |
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*A note on the graphics: In light of this campaign, we have introduced a new colour to EMA’s standard black, white and red. Yellow is known to represent hope and diversity, two key sentiments, and goals of this campaign. The red and white line element is a visual representation of the ‘routes to relocation’.
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'Migration represents an opportunity, for people forced to leave their homes to find physical, social and economic safety, stability, and possibility in the face of those they previously lacked. Concurrently, migration represents an opportunity for countries who welcome it; knowledge, workforce, cultural and linguistic diversity, among many more.' |
Launched on Monday 31st of October, it is this idea that is at the core Europe Must Act’s newest campaign, which will be carried out by EMA and our chapters across Europe. Over the next weeks and months, we will be using our social media platforms, as well as this newsletter, to explore various topics: the municipal approach and how to reach your local mayors and city councils, the ‘International Alliance of Safe Harbours’ and its goals, and subjects to take into consideration as advocates for a system that welcomes refugees into their communities.
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Read our press release to find out more about our #RoutesToRelocation campaign here!
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Suggestion of the month: 'Conversations from Calais'
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To end this newsletter, we wanted to highlight a different project that also started in Calais; one that you can engage with by simply reading the stories they share, submitting stories to as a current or former volunteer from Calais, or helping to spread these same stories in your own community.
Conversations From Calais is a collaborative movement that documents conversations between volunteers and migrants in Northern France. It was created by Mathilda Della Torre in 2019 and continues to spread through the street walls of many cities, but also through social networks, especially on Instagram, which serves as a project archive. Through individual stories told in the second person, which are then shared online as well as pasted on the walls of cities across Europe, the project aims to bridge a gap, to allow for refugees and asylum seekers to share their experiences.
If you want to learn more about participating in this project, check out their website, where there is a guide, and a set of posters to choose from, and the opportunity to help translate from and into various languages.
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We are stronger together!
Warmest,
EMA Newsletter Team
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