It is also the title of a French movie directed by Philippe Lioret in 2009. It highlights the life of illegal migrants who want to cross the English Channel and reach the UK. A hazardous quest for El Dorado… But the movie also talks about the difficulties met by the associations who try to help the illegal refugees living in the city.
Céline Tougeron, Brussels- "Knock knock knocking on heavens doors…" Calais, last stage before the UK for illegal migrants? Ready for anything to cross the Channel, they look to avoid the strict migration controls at the port. In 1999, the French government decided to create a refugee camp run by the Red Cross in Sangatte (a commune closed to Calais). The Sans-Gate (Without Gate) transit center was originally planned to cater 200 people. However it didn’t manage to handle the flow of asylum seekers (mainly Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis, Kurds and Kosovans representing the current geopolitical situation). In 2002, it hosted up to 1,500 people according to the Red-Cross magazine. The fears of local residents, the claims of Eurotunnel and the political pressure of the EU led to the closure of the camp in 2002. Since that time, no proper structure exists and many of the refugees now live out of the city, in outdoor camps and forests known as The Jungle. NGOs are still present, mainly distributing food and providing advice and assistance.
However, French law (Article 622-1 of the Code related to the entrance and stay of foreigners and Right of Asylum created in 2004) punishes any person who facilitates or tries to facilitate, directly or indirectly, the entrance, the movement or the illegal stay of a foreigner in France (so-called “délit de solidarité”). Even if in practice few citizens have been convicted according to this article, NGOs are denouncing the “pressure, questioning and detentions” [1] they regularly face in Calais.
Welcome increased public awareness of the situation, reminding everyone the situation it describes is taking place in France, only two hours away from Paris… Once the debate war relaunched, some MPs tried to introduce a proposition to decriminalize providing this aid. Hotly debated and covered by the media, the proposition was finally rejected in April 2009.
The movie won the LUX Price awarded by the European Parliament in November 2009, two months after the closure of The Jungle. A recognition and a sign from the MEPs, who yet adopted the directive on return of illegal immigrants last June [2]…
Bruno Serralongue – Photo Exhibition titled « La Jungle de Calais »
[2]Press release of the European Parliament, Parliament adopts directive on return of illegal immigrants, 18th June, 2009.
[3] More pictures from Bruno Serralongue.
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