France moves the migrants out of sight

S urrounded by hundreds of police, French workers demolished the wooden shelters and tents that make up the Jungle migrant camp near Calais in northern France. It took one day to dismantle a place that for more than a year has been a symbol of Europe’s dysfunctional refugee-protection policy.

When I walked through the Jungle during my visit in January, I was surprised to see it was much more than tents weighed down by the pouring rain. It was a community, it was people’s home. There was an Afghan tea shop, a makeshift school called Jungle Books, a Christian church and a mosque. Food and clothes were distributed by a relentless army of volunteers, who were also on constant watch for incidents of police brutality and violence during unannounced raids.

Most people were hoping to get to the U.K., either with the help of human smugglers or by sneaking onto a lorry crossing the Channel tunnel. Since June, nine migrants have died trying to make the crossing. News of the deaths weren’t enough to deter people from the crossing.

As I handed out warm jackets in the women and children’s centre, black jackets with hoods were in high demand.

The French government has faced pressure to shut down the Jungle from multiple fronts: from far-right anti-immigrant parties like the Front National who decry incidents of violence against lorry truck drivers and the economic impact on residents of Calais; from the U.K. government which — after spending $10 million on a fence to prevent people from reaching trucks heading toward the Channel tunnel — has said the French government hasn’t done enough to prevent migrants from making illegal crossings. And from humanitarian agencies such as UN Refugee Agency, which have raised alarm over the deplorable living conditions, calling the Jungle an “environment not fit for human habitation.”

But the destruction of the camp and relocation of migrants and refugees does little to address the larger refugee crisis in Europe, which has seen millions of people, in search of a better life, ending up sleeping on the streets, their journeys across the continent interrupted by barbed-wire fences and riot police.

Eliminating the camp and dispersing thousands of migrants and refugees to accommodation centres across France only achieves one thing: It makes these people invisible.

This makes it more difficult for volunteer agencies to provide essential services such as pro bono legal advice or counselling support.

The Jungle has been an embarrassment for the French and U.K. governments, a symbol of how European countries have shirked their responsibilities in dealing with the massive influx of people from the Middle East and Africa. The knee-jerk response has been to build fences, keep people out, tell them to go back where they came from.

With the Jungle gone, there’s no longer the threat of public shaming from celebrities such as Lily Allen and Jude Law, who, after touring its muddy streets, questioned whether this is the best Europe can do for vulnerable people.

As workers razed the camp on Tuesday, more than 1,600 refugees and migrants were loaded onto buses and taken to accommodation centres where they will apply for asylum in France. Many fear their asylum applications will be rejected and they will be deported. Others are so distrustful of French authorities, they will avoid the buses and fend for themselves.

Children remained in the camp while the demolition was taking place on Tuesday, which the charity Unicef U.K. called “unacceptable.”

“The children waiting to go into converted shipping containers are still in danger, and keeping them safe must be the No. 1 priority. There is only one chance for the authorities to get this right and they need more time,” said Lily Caprani, the deputy executive director for Unicef U.K.

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said 200 children have already been brought to Britain under the Dubs agreement, which allows unaccompanied minors to come to the U.K., even if they don’t have family ties.

Hundreds more children could arrive in the next few weeks, but dozens of local councils in Britain have refused to resettle child refugees or families. This reflects an attitude of mistrust and fear of the outsider, an attitude that fuelled the successful Brexit campaign, which has British politicians scrambling to negotiate a divorce from the European Union.

A friend of mine spent months in the Jungle, interviewing migrants on behalf of the Refugee Rights Data project, which conducts surveys as a way to paint a picture of the wants and needs of those in the camp.

According to a recent survey of 429 people, about a third said they intend to stay in Calais after the camp is dismantled, 26 per cent said they would sleep on streets and 15 per cent said they would go to another country.

This should serve as a stark reminder that even after the Jungle disappears, its residents will not.