The Calais Jungle camp has been constantly in our local and national news since it became established on its current site in the spring of 2015. However, there have been camps like it in the past, and whilst the Calais Jungle now faces imminent demolition, there will be concerns that the people living within it, will be forced to find new temporary accommodation elsewhere in the region.
I have written in recent weeks about my concerns for the families and young children who are living in the camp. I am pleased that our government has put pressure on the French authorities to speed up the processing of the claims of around 300 unaccompanied children, who have the legal write of asylum in the UK, and are able to join other family members here when they arrive. The first of these children have arrived in England this week. However, there are many more vulnerable young people living in the camp, who are trying to claim asylum in France. I was concerned to meet families when I visited the Calais Jungle at the end of September, who had already claimed asylum in France, but were still waiting, after five months, to be offered accommodation by the authorities in that country.
The French government must use its resources, as well as working alongside the many charities and aide workers who trying to help the people in the Jungle camp, to make sure that alternative places are found for them, whilst they have their claims for asylum in Europe processed. The demolition of the camp, without putting these measures in place, will not solve the problem. It will merely disperse it over a wider area, putting at risk the lives of migrants who will be more vulnerable to the dangerous people trafficking gangs who operate in that area. The destruction and dispersal of the Jungle in this way, will also make it harder to police and secure the access routes into the Port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel. Thanks to the investment in proper fencing and extra policing we have seen a big improvement in the security of these sites, and no-one wants to see this work undermined
The existence of the Calais Jungle has been a disgrace, and it is something that should never be allowed to happen again. This requires more action across Europe to identify asylum seekers when they enter the European Union, rather than allowing people to travel for thousands of miles across the continent before making a claim. The UK has said that it will take 5,000 refugees from the conflict in Syria directly from the United Nations run centres in that region. This is also the right approach to take, as it allows people who have fled from the terror of the war in that country, to seek safety in Europe without having to further risk their lives by crossing dangerous areas of land and sea.