The French authorities are attempting to get rid of them and the British government is attempting to keep them out — I’m not referring to an infestation of some sort, I’m referring to displaced lives being rejected by remorseless politicians.
Because of their nationality and refugee status, the thousands of refugees from Middle Eastern countries like Afghanistan, Eritrea and Syria have been evacuated from a pop-up refugee camp last week in Calais, France.
Furthermore, the camp has degradingly been coined the Calais ‘Jungle’ by French authorities.
These displaced people are no longer seen as human through the eyes of French and British politicians. Instead, they’re viewed as an issue, nothing more than a liability.
Conditions in the Calais camp were said to be dilapidated in an article titled, “Calais refugee camp conditions diabolical, says report” by writer Alexandra Topping for The Guardian. Topping went on to describe the camp as a place, “cramped [with] makeshift tents plagued by rats, water sources contaminated by faeces and inhabitants suffering from tuberculosis, scabies and post-traumatic stress.”
The camp is said to be one of Europe’s largest shanty towns. There were approximately 3,000 residents living in the camp, including roughly 1,500 children, before the mass evacuations last week. This was reported by Calais Action, one of several volunteer organizations that was operating on the site.
France’s intolerance of refugees is more than disappointing, it’s alarming. Recently, French President Francois Hollande declared how he feels about the thousands of refugees: “We could tolerate the camps no longer, and we will not tolerate them.”
He also declared he would not allow any more camps to crop up across the nation.
Hollande’s words accurately portray how European politicians have come to view the refugee crisis — not an influx of people in need, but rather as a calamity. It’s time for French politicians, along with other European governments, to find a way to help these displaced people instead of trying to rid themselves of what I presume they consider a “headache.”
It’s time to establish regulations that will aid refugees, rather than prohibit their entry into European nations. In fact, there should be coordination amongst the international community allowing for safer passage into European countries for displaced people. Furthermore, these countries should be focused on family reunification and better supporting refugees, instead of looking for a way to send them elsewhere.
European nations along with the United States should be committed to saving refugee lives and helping those vulnerable to harm and exploitation because of the fleeing refugee crisis they regrettably find themselves apart of.
Germany accepted a plethora of refugees in 2015, which was widely praised by the international community yet condemned by its German citizens. According to an article titled, “ Germany welcomed more than 1 million refugees in 2015. Now, the country is searching for its soul,” by Rick Noack for The Washington Post, “Politicians were outraged when thousands of Germans started to protest against their government’s pro-refugee policy.”
Although, the German government did receive some backlash from the public for allowing refugees to find a home in the country — German politicians did nothing wrong. It seems as though in this rare turn of events, the government was actually less-evil than the public.
French president, Francois Hollande should aspire to be as helpful and compassionate as German chancellor Angela Merkel chose to be toward the refugee community in 2015.
Many of these displaced people have lost family members, friends and their homes. Afghan refugees are escaping the destructive war in their country, as are the Syrian refugees. Iraqi people are fleeing from Islamic State controlled areas while Eritrean refugees are trying to find a better life outside of the police state of Eritrea.
They all share a common goal: to succeed in a thriving (and reachable) country like the United Kingdom or France and leave a life of destitute behind. However, with the cruel treatment of refugees by French politicians living in the Calais camp, it’s seems as though that may be unlikely.
The plan for many of the refugees who resided in the French camp was to cross from the port city of Calais into Great Britain by boat, in hopes of finding an improved way of living. However, Britain has come to label these refugees as “clandestine migrants” and has been accused by aid agencies of not doing enough to help the influx of people.
According to an article, “UK not doing enough for refugees, say charities and aid agencies” by Amelia Gentlemen for The Guardian, Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International told the writer in an interview, “History will judge us for our failure to deal with the global refugee crisis. Instead of focusing on putting up more barriers to keep people out, the UK must urgently provide the safe and legal routes refugees fleeing violence and persecution desperately need.”
The building of walls and the dismantling of camps is not a way of helping — it’s a way of intimidating and completely rejecting people in dire need of aid.
As reported in an article titled, “Inside France’s ‘Jungle’: Desperate Migrants Keep Coming to Calais” by Adam Nossiter and Tyler Hicks, French leaders ardently attempted to disassemble the vast camp and rid the area of refugees for the past 18 months.
The dismantling of the ‘Jungle’ embodies the pitiless way that French authorities have come to treat destitute refugees looking for employment opportunities, shelter and a new life.
Furthermore, the evacuation of these refugees from this camp showcases European leaders’ ineptitude of handling the inflow of migrants.
A record of 3,800 people have died in the Mediterranean Sea since the beginning of 2016 while attempting to flee their nation’s problems, according to the United Nations. European nations need to end the rejection of displaced people and account for them, instead of rejecting them and leaving them to perish.