Migrants have gathered in and around Calais, on the northern French coast, since at least the late 1990sN. Bajekal, 'Inside Calais's Deadly Migrant Crisis (01/08/15) in Time seeking to enter the United Kingdom from the French port by crossing the Channel Tunnel or stowing away in the cargo area of lorries heading for ferries that cross the English Channel. During this time, informal camps of migrants have formed, the most notorious commonly referred to as the Calais Jungle. Other migrants come to the area because they are homeless while seeking asylum in France. The presence of migrants in and around Calais has affected the British and French governments, the Eurotunnel and P&O Ferries companies, and lorry drivers heading for the UK and their companies. EuroTunnel (now Getlink), the company that operates the Channel Tunnel, said that it intercepted more than 37,000 migrants between January and July 2015.
Migrant population Demographics
The migrant population around Calais has changed as global crises have changed. In the late 1990s, for instance, most people had travelled to the area to escape conflict in the Balkans. Nearly two decades later Kurdish Iraqis were the largest group, but by 2014 many people had begun to arrive from the Horn of Africa and Sudan.Calais 'Jungle': Migrants hit dead end in journey to UK Fergal Keane, BBC News, 9 October 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2015. Many of the Kurdish Iraqis later moved to similar camps near Calais and Dunkirk.
Prior to the eviction of the large Jungle camp, a July 2016 survey of the population of the Calais Jungle by Help Refugees counted 7,307 migrants (of which 761 were minors): the largest number to date. At that time, the population was increasing by an average of 50 people per day. After the Brexit vote on 23 June 2016, the population had reportedly increased to nearly 10,000. An estimated 62% of the migrants were young men; the migrants' average age was 33. Most of them do not speak French.
Motivation Calais is the closest geographical point to the UK in mainland Europe. It is a significant trade hub, with millions of tons of goods passing through each day, to and from Great Britain, by truck, train, and ship. This increases the potential for migrants to stow away on vehicles passing through, as well as the economic costs of the disruption that they cause. Migrants in the area who want to reach the UK do so for a number of reasons. For instance, some prefer the UK to other European countries due to greater economic growth (thus making them economic migrants), and the relative ease of finding illegal undocumented work,Migrant squalor in Calais 'jungle'. Emma-Jane Kirby, BBC News, 2 July 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2015.Calais mayor threatens to block port if UK fails to help deal with migrants. Natacha Bouchart, The Guardian, 3 September 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015. the latter being due to the application of habeas corpus preventing the checking of migrants' identification in some situations.'At night it's like a horror movie' – inside Calais's official shantytown. Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, 6 April 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.Aribaud and Vignon, 'Rapport à monsieur le ministre de l'intérieur sur la situation des migrants dans le Calaisis' (2015). Ministère de l'intérieur The UK is also a desirable destination because English is a widely known language, and because it is easier to reach than other English speaking destinations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Still others have a family connection with the UK.Bowden, 'Why Do Calais Migrants Want To Come To Britain? And Why Don't Refugees Stay In France?' (24/10/16) in HuffPost Some migrants in the area have paid smugglers - sometimes thousands of pounds - to help them on their journey and/or to help them attempt to reach the UK. Migrants risk their lives when they try to climb aboard or travel on vehicles, occasionally falling off and injuring themselves or dying. Not every migrant in Calais is trying to get to the UK, however: some are seeking asylum in France but are homeless because the French system does not provide for them while their claim is being processed.Francesca Ansaloni, 'Deterritorialising the Jungle: Understanding the Calais camp through its orderings' in Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space (25/02/20) doi.org/10.1177/2399654420908597
Conditions Apart from the camp in Sangatte (closed 2002) and the one in Grande-Synthe during the mayoral administration of Damien Carême, the camps are informal and have appeared in various locations along the northern coast since the 1990s. Since the demolition of the large Jungle camp in 2016 there has been an administrative policy of "no fixation points" for migrants to settle in, aiming to stop another large camp from forming.France 24, 'Calais : Collomb ne veut pas de "point de fixation" pour les migrants' (23/06/17) Police, including the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité (CRS), and clearance teams regularly evict migrants from their makeshift camps, but new encampments later form there or elsewhere.I. Bourke, '"A matter of political will": There's no end in sight for the refugee crisis in Calais' (16/12/17) in New StatesmanM. Bulman, 'The lost childhoods on Britain's doorstep: How growing number of families are waiting in tents to attempt dangerous Channel crossing' (01/12/18) on The IndependentM. Bulman, 'Calais camp evictions fuelling rise in Channel crossings as situation reaches tipping point, say charities' (11/09/19) in The IndependentJenowein, Whitaker, Lindner, Forced Evictions in Calais and Grande-Synthe: 1 August 2018-1 June 2019 (2019). Human Rights Observers The encampments are dangerous due to exposure and poor living conditions resulting in health difficulties.Dhesi, Isakjee, Davies, An Environmental Health Assessment of the New Migrant Camp in Calais (2015). University of BirminghamBouhenia et al., 'Quantitative survey on health and violence endured by refugees during their journey and in Calais, France' in Int. Health (2017)Dhesi, Isakjee, Davies, 'Public health in the Calais refugee camp: environment, health and exclusion' in Critical Public Health (2017)A. Rawsome, 'From periods to pregnancy – the sexual health crisis for Calais refugees' (26/02/18) in The Guardian Authorities create a hostile environment;Edmond-Pettitt, 'Territorial Policing and the 'hostile environment' in Calais: from policy to practice' (2018) in Justice, Power and Resistance migrants and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) report police violence directed at migrantsA. Mohdin, 'Calais clamps down as asylum seekers say: 'They just beat us'' (18/09/19) in The GuardianGarcia Bochenek, "Like Living in Hell": Police Abuses Against Child and Adult Migrants in Calais (2017). Human Rights WatchE. Vigny, Calais: the police harassment of volunteers (2018). L'Auberge des Migrants and the local administration occasionally bans the distribution of food and water.Amelia Gentleman, 'Calais mayor bans distribution of food to migrants' (02/03/17) in The GuardianP. Charrier, 'À Calais, des associations dénoncent un arrêté municipal « stigmatisant » envers les migrants' (01/11/19) in La Croix
Reactions Legal framework Treaties The laws for processing of migrants and management of the situation are set by bilateral agreements between the UK and France relating to the Channel Tunnel. Bilateral agreements include the 1991 Sangatte Protocol regarding border controls in Coquelles and Folkestone, which was later supplemented by the 2003 Touquet Treaty, which increased the powers of the police at the border, and defines the obligations of the UK and France to accept refugees.
French rule of law When the French justice system determines that a person is in France illegally, an (OQTF) - an order to leave France or be deported to a country of origin - can be issued. This is defined in the Code of Entry and Residence of Foreigners and of the Right to Asylum).
However, many of the camps' inhabitants lack identification and even a legal identity in their countries of origin, as is the case with many people of Eritrean, Ethiopian, and Sudanese nationality. For a person in this situation, an OQTF cannot be issued, either because it is unclear to what country the person should be deported, or because neither their countries of origin nor other countries in the Schengen Area will accept them.
Security measures
Britain and France operate a system of juxtaposed controls on immigration and customs, whereby border checks take place prior to boarding, so once stowaways are in a vehicle in the tunnel, they are able to enter the UK without further checks. To discourage vehicle operators from facilitating this, lorry drivers are fined £2,000 per stowaway, if a migrant is discovered in their vehicle.
On 20 August 2015, Theresa May, who was then UK Home Secretary, arrived in Calais with Bernard Cazeneuve, the French Minister of the Interior, to confirm a new agreement to address the situation. The agreement invested £7 million in new security measures, including basing British police officers in a new control centre in Calais that regularly reported to May and Cazeneuve regarding immigration-related criminal activities on both sides of the Channel. The port of Calais is protected by 5-meter tall fences topped with coils of razor wire and surveillance cameras. Additional fencing is being constructed along the motorway leading to the port. The UK is investing £3 million in heartbeat and carbon dioxide detectors, and dog searches, for UK-bound lorries in France.
Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, has called for the situation to be addressed through more security at the periphery of the European Union to prevent people from entering the EU irregularly.
Other political reactions In August 2015, Vincent Cochetel, the director for Europe at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, described the crisis as a "civil emergency". Later that month, Yvette Cooper, the UK Shadow Home Secretary, said that the United Nations had to intervene in the crisis in order to stop the French government from allowing people to try to enter the UK illegally, and on 20 August, Theresa May, then the UK Home Secretary, expressed concern that the crisis could spread to other ports, such as Dunkirk.
In 2015, Nigel Farage, at the time leader of the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), called for the military to search incoming vehicles to address a "lawless, scary" situation.
Public reactions Solidarity Members of the publicGerbier-Aublanc, 'Humanitarian improvisation: potential and limitations of citizen solidarity in the migrant camps in Calais and Paris' (2018). French Red Cross Foundation and grassroots organisationsMcGee, Pelham, 'Politics at Play: Locating Human Rights, Refugees and Grassroots Humanitarianism in the Calais Jungle' (2018). Leisure Studies have supported migrants around Calais. Some Calasians host migrants in their homes or join together to support migrants with food and material aid. People from outside France have also migrated to Calais to support those living rough.Sandri, Volunteer Humanitarianism: volunteers and humanitarian aid in the Jungle refugee camp of Calais (2017). Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies No Borders activists have also supported migrants around Calais.Rigby, Schlembach, Impossible protest: noborders in Calais (2013). Citizenship Studies The number of people who have helped migrants in Calais is in the thousands.Doidge, Sandri, Friends that last a lifetime: the importance of emotions amongst volunteers working with refugees in Calais (2018). British Journal of Sociology
Calais blockade On 5 September 2016, truck drivers, local farmers, and trade unionists, protesting against "wilful destruction" by migrants residing in the camps, slowed traffic entering the port of Calais, demanding the closure of the Jungle.
History Sangatte migrants camp (1999–2002)