In this current circumstance, there is no proper word to use than crisis. It has almost become a failure on the part of world leaders to provide a blueprint solution to deal with the many refugees who are fleeing war, violence and poverty from the Middle East and some African nations.
In the northern French small town of Calais, the desperate refugees who have managed to pass many dangers of the sea to reach European soil are living in appalling conditions, compelling us to tell the eyewitness account so that we can all help these unfortunate people.
According to Rosie Strickland who joined the Critical Mass Mission, a humanity organization dedicated to helping those in desperate situation, the camp where the refugees live is called the `Jungle’ due to the condition in it. Strickland and his team rode on second-hand bicycles from London to Calais in order to donate the bicycles to those in need living in the refugee camp which has now become known as the `Jungle’.
Strickland wrote on the Positive News that the camp is five kilometres from the Calais Township and that the exhausted refugees have to walk that distance to and from daily to be able to fill out various bureaucratic forms in order to look for menial jobs to do to be able to survive.
Their donated bikes will be used by the refugees to make their daily journey between the camp and the Calais town. This is easier and quicker. A three-hour round trip on foot will then be reduced to an hour with the help of the bicycle.
Recounting her experience at the camp, Strickland wrote “In the camp I met people from Darfur in Sudan where there has been genocide and civil war for over a decade. I saw scars on people’s bodies from torture; I saw photos of children and families left at home – living in abject poverty. I met people from Kurdistan in Iraq, which since last year has been under the control of ISIS-aligned forces. I met people from Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan. All of these people fleeing poverty, violence or both.”
According to her, when they arrived and decided to distribute the bicycles, they were overwhelmed by the many desperate refugees. Everybody wanted to get a bicycle and this brought a chaotic scene.
“We were mobbed for our bicycles before we could distribute them. We found ourselves in a situation where our ideals of what was deemed fair and just were directly challenged by the real situation of desperate people fighting for survival”, she said.
Strickland admitted that the refugees needed beyond bikes, tents and sleeping bags. They live in small wretched huts with sanitation challenges. She said the refugees need building materials, English language learning books, solidarity and most of all, protection and respect to their dignity as human beings.
She also narrated how a thunderstorm and heavy rain broke that day they visited the camp. They had no alternative then to spend the night with the refugees.
““Suddenly the tables had turned as to who was helping who. It is amazing how quickly you can make a friend in dire situations. The night we shared in this simple hut was long but life-changing. We shared conversation, beer, nibbles and cigarettes. We conversed in Arabic, English and French, and tried to teach each other words and phrases in our respective languages. Our conversation didn’t go beyond the here and now. It was in our shared vulnerability, in that moment, that our inherent capacity to survive and take care of each other emerged”, she narrated.
Strickland is now calling on individuals and organizations to contribute their quota to help the refugees living in the `jungle’. You can join her campaign on this Facebook page.
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This Article (Eyewitness Account Of The Horrors At The Refugee Camp In The Northern French Town Of Calais) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com.
quite the situation is really catastrophic but what can give a hand that was, let alone that we are robbing us. Between a government that does not react or may be worrying over his own money that people they, supposedly governs. Let the world know that here in France, the people respect the choice of his heart, despite our growing poverty. The only barrier between the men is the language but his heart always shalt union. https://www.facebook.com/page.sauvons.calais/videos/1713150268912696/