Calais “Jungle” migrant camp closure a missed opportunity
SOMETIME after the great flood those who left the ark started roaming the earth for a place to settle. The more they populated or faced harsh circumstances the more they spread out, and believe it or not it was legal.
Life went on like that until at some point in history borders were drawn and lands had sovereignty. Some technocrats decided to make moving around more organised.
The organised visa system was not practiced everywhere and was not extremely strict at the beginning; and that luckily permitted our ancestors to shift from one continent to the other; creating a new demography.
Now life is way much more complicated. For any sort of immigration authorisation; you may be asked to submit all sorts of documents, sit an interview, sign papers allowing the hosting country to hunt you down and skin you alive if they see necessary.
Migrants who are seeking a better life somewhere else, or running away from war zones to a safer haven for their families or even just seekers of a new adventure on a different land on the globe are treated as potential criminals and sometimes worse. As savage animals.
That was the case of camps in the city of Calais known as the “Jungle” which was dismantled at the end of October using the police force to put an end of 17 years of accommodating migrants attempting to cross the English Channel by ferries or through the Eurotunnel.
The desperate attempts of migrants to cross the channel for a better life claimed the life of many who hid in lorries crossing ferries or tried to walk their way in the Eurotunnel casing train delays and service disruption.
The French police have been overwhelmed with the increas- ing number of migrants camping in the “Jungle” waiting for an opportunity to cross the Channel. They could not arrest all migrants as an estimation of over 3000 migrants lived in the “Jungle” along with a few hundred social workers from NGOS and people traffickers who made false claims to desperate migrants willing to pay all they have just to secure a pass over the Channel.
Despite the high security fence topped with coils or razor wire and CCTV surveillance over the “Jungle” plus the heavily guarded gates by French riot police; French authorities declared preventing over 39,000 attempts to cross the Channel illegally in 2014/15.
Dismantling the “Jungle” using police force; arresting some and redirecting some others to be deported to their country of origin at this time was looked upon as a weak attempt by French President François Hollande to tickle the fancy of the right wing voters as surveys showed he scored 9 percent on the satisfaction scale of the French people.
Politicians think people have a memory of a fish; and that one uncalculated impulsive act to win a particular category of voters will work in their favour. Well, it did not work; instead people criticised the way the dismantling of the “Jungle” was conducted.
The “Jungle” was a visible target to occupy the media and the concern of the voters, but the real problem has not been tackled. Calais is not the only city that has migrants trying to cross to a better future. There are the borders with Italy where French forces annually block the illegal passing of migrants after they arrive from Africa on boats.
Migrants or would-be-asylum seekers according to European Union statistics come mainly from Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Albania, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Bangladesh. Countries all have been war torn or people live below the poverty line.
The European Union has been spending billions in accommodating, providing aid or deporting migrants coming to its borders by land or sea, but little to integrate them into the demanding work force.
In France many jobs are filled by illegal migrants who work as we call it “Au Noir”, “In The Dark”. They are paid in cash and occupy important sectors such as the construction sector. The women do house cleaning, babysitting and other odd jobs.
Not one single politician saw that legalising those who already exist on their territory can be beneficial to the economy. All those “Au Noir” workers once legalised will enjoy a dignified life and will be taxable on their income.
Instead of seeing a potential solution for all to emerge as a winner; the “Jungle” was dismantled by force; some arrested, some deported and those who managed to escape from the French police ran towards the Belgian borders; probably to start a new “Jungle”.
Not one single politician saw that legalising those who already exist on their territory can be beneficial to the economy. All those “Au Noir” workers once legalised will enjoy a dignified life and will be taxable on their income.