Many Sudanese, most from Darfur, had moved to Palestine House, following the eviction of the university cabins where they were sheltering, and the eviction of a new squat where they tried to resettle. There were people from Chad and other African countries, a few are unaccompanied minors, the youngest only 15. There were many Palestinians and other Arabs. There was quite a big group of Afghans but they moved out – or to be more precise they were pushed out by some of the Sudanese. Others have been sleeping in Palestine House occasionally or going to visit. The squat oscillated between two tendencies, to be an open and multi-ethnic place where everybody is welcome, or to be dominated by Sudanese and other Arabic speakers. There were no women, and there are almost no women in Calais in general now, and almost no families, probably due to the excessive hardship and stress. Two small Iranian boys have been staying in Palestine House with their father for a couple of nights.

I think it would be difficult to find a habitation so derelict as Palestine House in the poorest neighbourhood of Calcutta or Cairo - but you don’t need to go farther than the North of France to find people and families living in the jungle! Many of those who are forced to live in these appalling conditions are educated people, they were teachers, professionals or students in their countries, and in their own view it is unbelievable that France and Europe, who declare upholding Human Rights, can treat people like that.

The situation is very difficult for migrants in Calais and I think it has never been as bad as now, even though I have witnessed the destruction of the ‘jungles’, and the daily hunting of migrants by police for the past three years.
Most squats have been evicted and it is impossible for the migrants to resettle anywhere, the police immediately close all the new squats. The behaviour of the police has been to relentlessly chase the migrants day and night, arrest them, evict them from every place, don’t even let them sleep by the side of the road.

This type of heavy harassment has been going on since the closure of Sangatte, in 2002. At Sangatte near Calais there was a big hangar that functioned as accommodation centre for the migrants and refugees in transit. Managed by the Red Cross, the centre was closed by the French government under pressure from the UK government, who were saying it was a ‘magnet’ for ‘illegal’ immigrants trying to reach the UK. In fact, the majority of migrants present in Calais in 2002 were refugees from the war against Iraq. After the closure of Sangatte, people resorted to live in makeshift camps in woods and wastelands they themselves called the ‘jungles’, or to squat derelict houses. Destructions of people’s shelters, blankets and belongings, as well as repeated arbitrary arrests have been used as a mean to dissuade people from staying in the Calais area.

However, efforts of cleansing Calais of migrants have intensified since 2009. After the hugely mediatized destruction of the Pashto jungle, 22nd September 2009, they evicted and bulldozed all other jungles and squats in Calais. However, so far, migrants have always managed to resettle elsewhere, in even more invisible, dangerous and precarious situations, and with more police harassment, in the form of almost daily police raids and mass arrests, as well as destruction of blankets, tents, people’s property.
Lately we are witnessing a further tightening of the screw. In a bid to drive them out of Calais, probably related to the upcoming Olympics, migrants have been chased out of every shelter.

How many migrants are there in Calais? The food distributions are well attended, and 100 tickets were given at the last clothes distribution, but many people do not go there, either because they have no need, or more so for fear of the police: there are often plainclothes police, and there are always police vehicles at the food distributions, and policemen spying on migrants, often with binoculars and cameras. Police should not arrest people going to the place of food distribution, 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after, but they very often do. The associations that distribute the meals have repeatedly complained about, but to no avail. Especially the Albanians, very numerous in Calais this year, are mostly staying out of sight, after many of their fellow countrymen have been arrested and deported back to Albania. The Albanians usually­­ have money to buy their own food.

I think 150 migrants present in Calais could be a good rough estimate at time of me writing, but it is really difficult to calculate, with all the people who are hiding, and the people who are going to o­­­­­ther places to escape ­­­­­the hardships in Calais, and coming back.

Most migrants in Calais are refugees from the most war-torn countries in the world: Darfur, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraqui Kurdistan, Afghanistan. There are quite many Iranians escaping persecution by the dictatorship. They are already traumatized by their experiences in their countries, and by the sometimes horrific journeys they had to endure, to try and save their lives. The politics of the French State after Sangatte is to traumatize them again and again, in order to ‘persuade’ them to leave Calais.

The Eritreans and Ethiopians mostly sleep in hostels, as many have applied for asylum in France, a few are sleeping in hidden places. They have also been subjected to repeated evictions. Their squat, Paradise House, was closed by police, after the violent and mysterious death of one of the occupiers, Zenebe, who was a friend to us and a very quiet and gentle man who always had a smile for everybody. He is very sadly missed.
The squats they tried to open after were immediately evicted.
Many of the migrants present in Calais now are asylum seekers and many are in the street, despite the fact that by law they should be given accommodation. Asylum seekers also get arrested very often, and people who have leave to remain for ten years get arrested, and taken to the police station with the excuse of ID controls.

Some people resorted to sleep in the place of food distribution, especially Iranians and other Farsi speakers but also some Africans and Arabs: after being evicted again and again from houses they tried to squat, they felt they had no other solution. The police have been going there very often, once they went 6 times in one night, to check their papers and prevent them from sleeping, and they asked them to move out. Finally, on the 4th of May, at 8am, the police evicted the place, arresting 7 migrants. Afterwards, council workers took the blankets and covers away. However, people have returned and are still sleeping there. Sleeping is not authorized in the place of food distribution. It is also very uncomfortable, there is no proper shelter for the rain, only a ridiculous line of a roof for the people who are in the queue for the food, and the place is like a mouse trap, there are no escape routes if the police go there to arrest, it is surrounded by a tall fence and it is a perfect example of racist architecture! People have to queue for their food, invariably consisting of a slop of overcooked pasta or overcooked rice, and eat on the floor, or on the rubbish bins, as there are not tables nor chairs, and not even a roof.

Just before the eviction of the last Sudanese squat, in the university cabins, many Sudanese were put in Coquelles deportation centre and faced with the choice to either apply for asylum in France, or get deported back to Sudan: one Sudanese arrested in Calais and three arrested in Paris were actually deported. For Darfuri it is very easy at the moment to get asylum in UK, so this is really spoiling their chances. In UK, at least, asylum seekers are given accommodation, they are not left in the streets like in France (though refused asylum seekers are left homeless and destitute). In UK it is much easier than in France to find jobs.
After the mass arrests, detention and threat of deportation, the numbers of Sudanese in Calais have dwindled, and many have applied for asylum, not because they wanted to stay in France, but because it was impossible for them to do otherwise!

After the Sudanese and the Albanians, it is the Palestinians, Tunisians and other Arabs to be targeted: many are in the detention centre of Coquelles. There has been a mass hunger strike by detainees but it is over, after many people were deported to various countries where they had fingerprints. No Borders have been organizing various noise demos in front of the deportation centre. We also call and visit the people in detention.


For more information and a complete timeline of arrests and evictions, look at our blog.

We always need activists to come to Calais and help in the struggle against State repression! If you are thinking or coming, or just want more information, our contacts are also on the blog.

Calais Migrant Solidarity (popularly known as ‘the noborders’) are a trans-national activist network who have been monitoring what the police are doing in Calais since 2009, and denouncing the situation. Largely our work is a continuation of the work Marie Noelle Gues did on her own for many years, and until her premature death of a long illness, in 2011.