‘People ask where they can put tents – there is no safe space’
Migrant women with small children are living in squalid camps. By Molly Blackall
Rising numbers of women and children are sleeping outside in makeshift camps in northern France, with no access to toilets or showers, as they wait to cross the Channel in small boats.
Babies as young as four months old are living in tents in Calais and Grande Synthe because state accommodation that is usually provided to mothers and their children is consistently full.
Some women are developing infections from using adult nappies because of the lack of toilets, and having little opportunity to wash themselves or their children, aid workers on the ground told i.
The number of people crossing the English Channel has surged this year.
As of 21 April, there had been 6,265 small boat arrivals compared with 5,049 in the same period last year, an increase of 24 per cent.
The overwhelming majority of people making the journey are men and boys, with women’s stories in the Channel frequently overlooked.
But new detail sheds grim light on the experiences of female migrants, some of whom are pregnant, hoping to seek asylum in the UK.
“Women ask us for adult [nappies] because there is no light at night and it’s dangerous for them to have to go outside to pee. But the day after there is no shower to clean themselves. Women are getting infections because of this,” said Louise Boren, a volunteer at the Refugee Women’s Centre in northern France.
Aid workers in Grande Synthe drive women three times a week to a shower facility but do not have the capacity to take everyone who wants to wash.
One said: “Every time we go to a different camp, we have hygiene stuff in our car. It’s the first thing people ask for. Women ask a lot for baby wipes, as they don’t have access to a shower; ask for pads, because when you’re on your period in this situation it is super complicated.” Calais has a state-provided guest house for female migrants, but it is only for new arrivals to the city and has a maximum stay of three nights, aid workers say.
Authorities in Calais did not confirm the number of rooms, but three aid organisations said it had been full for the past two months, with women and children sleeping on the streets and in makeshift camps. Twenty miles up the coast, in Grande Synthe, there is a large migrant population but no statesupplied housing. According to aid workers, “hundreds” of women are sleeping outside and there is no food or water other than that supplied in accommodation.
“People ask always for shelter,” said Ms Boren. “When they ask us for accommodation, we are looking at housing associations and some citizens who opened their doors for women and families to try to accommodate them. But if it’s not possible, we give them a tent.
“Every time they ask, where can we put this tent? And we don’t know what to say. There is no safe space.”
Families, or lone women with children, are among those sleeping rough in Calais.
“Since about a month ago we have seen women and children coming back into the area, planning to cross. Because of that the public housing solutions are full,” said Axel Gaudinat, of the charity Utopia56.
“Last weekend, we had 15 families without anywhere to go. There are a lot of very young ones; four months, eight months [old]. We gave them some tents and blankets and they stayed near the port.
“This is the first wave of families but we expect the saturation of public housing all summer.”
Imogen Hardman (inset), the coordinator for the refugee charity Care4Calais, said she had seen an increased number of women across northern France and had also had to help accommodate homeless families.
Police in Calais carry out evictions every 48 hours, with tents and living sites cleared. Ms Hardman said that had a “huge impact on women and children”, adding: “You have to keep your children safe, and doing that is difficult.”
“The state is deploying local humanitarian action in Calais, including access to healthcare, meal distribution, access to water and showers,” said a spokesman for the prefect of the Pas-de-Calais region.
Women ask for adult nappies because there is no light at night; it’s dangerous for them to go outside to pee