THE JUNGLE

Since 1999, there have been several jungle camps around the city of Calais. When the French authorities closed a camp, migrants moved to new camps, while others went to occupy abandoned structures. The main 'official' Calais 'jungle' was located in a former dump site, 5km from the city centre, and occupied by 1000 to 6000 migrants. These jungle camps are a particular example of the brutality with which politicians try to implement a certain strategy of refoulement. This is where people who attempt to enter the UK via the Port of Calais or through the Channel Tunnel stay as illegal passengers on trucks, ferries, cars or trains travelling to the UK. Some of the 6400 migrants were evacuated from the camp via 170 buses in October 2016, with the intention of relocating them to various regions of France. On 26 October 2016, the French authorities announced that the camp had been liberated. Since 26 July 2017, Human Rights Watch has published a report called 'Like Living in Hell' documenting the ongoing human rights abuses, in the region, by the police against migrants, both children and adults.