Calais ‘Jungle’ demolished

In October, thousands of refugees who’d been living in Calais’s ‘Jungle’ camp watched as their makeshift home was bulldozed by the French authorities. Some had survived in the shanty town for over a year, nearly all had fled war and poverty and were desperately trying to reach Britain.

Over 8,000 people were living in the camp at the time of the demolition, which saw adults moved to reception centres and children to temporary shelters around France. Some 200 children with family in the UK were brought here as part of the Dublin III regulation, and a further 100 unaccompanied minors who don’t have family here have arrived under the Dubs amendment.

The refugee crisis is the worst to hit Europe since World War II. In April, Grazia visited the camps in Calais and Dunkirk with the charity Help Refugees, and met some of the people stranded there. A worrying new report by Refugee Youth Service has found that almost a third of the Jungle’s children have gone missing since the demolition. Charities are calling on the UK Government to fulfil their commitment and allow 1,000 children entry before Christmas.they fear the crisis has not been solved, merely shifted to other locations.