Calais: Migration and the UK Border

[teqniq]

A girl at work has been going over there, using up her annual leave to help out in the school there - fair play to her. Last time she came back saying the jungle is twice the size it was before and really quite dangerous. How is lobbing teargas into all this supposed to help?

 

[Treacle Toes]

A girl at work has been going over there, using up her annual leave to help out in the school there - fair play to her. Last time she came back saying the jungle is twice the size it was before and really quite dangerous. How is lobbing teargas into all this supposed to help?

Quite a few urbs have been doing the same but helping out with other things like waste collections/distributions/building etc. Some of us are back there over the next two weekends also.

I agree that the camp has swelled in size but am curious to know in which way your colleague found it dangerous?

 

[Treacle Toes]

How is lobbing teargas into all this supposed to help?

As a deterrent/war tactic...attack/threaten where vulnerable and the vulnerable (women/children/older people/the infirm) as a way of controlling the capable.

 

[teqniq]

Quite a few urbs have been doing the same but helping out with other things like waste collections/distributions/building etc. Some of us are back there over the next two weekends also.

I agree that the camp has swelled in size but am curious to know in which way your colleague found it dangerous?

Sorry I'm not sure we only had a conversation in passing. I'll ask her next time I see her.

 

[teqniq]

I am supposing some people here may have had direct experience of this but anyway spotted this gem the other day

Police have used anti-terrorism powers to detain UK volunteers taking aid to Calais refugee camp

Kent police in full of shit shokka

A spokesperson for Kent Police said: “Kent Police does not give details of any groups or individuals stopped and searched at the borders.

“Our officers perform routine stop-checks, as is normal procedure, as part of our commitment to protect the public from harm.”

 

[SpookyFrank]

'Routine' is the key word there. Routinely using anti-terrorism powers against humanitarian volunteers.

And again, the police are happy to admit it

 

[SpookyFrank]

I agree that the camp has swelled in size but am curious to know in which way your colleague found it dangerous?

There are often big fights between different groups of people, or outbursts of retaliatory violence directed at nobody in particular. Then there's the police, who are not above pepper spraying volunteers and activists or just plain beating the shit out of them. Then there are the local fascists who are mostly just a nuisance but who have been known to physically attack activists and migrants.

You are generally much safer as a European do-gooder in Calais than any of the migrants themselves are, for all sorts of reasons, but there are still risks. Most of the long-term no borders types I've met in Calais have developed a near-total disregard for their own safety tbh.

 

[Treacle Toes]

There are often big fights between different groups of people, or outbursts of retaliatory violence directed at nobody in particular. Then there's the police, who are not above pepper spraying volunteers and activists or just plain beating the shit out of them. Then there are the local fascists who are mostly just a nuisance but who have been known to physically attack activists and migrants.

You are generally much safer as a European do-gooder in Calais than any of the migrants themselves are, for all sorts of reasons, but there are still risks. Most of the long-term no borders types I've met in Calais have developed a near-total disregard for their own safety tbh.

I am aware of the possible and more general stuff, I was just asking about that particular person's specific experiences.

Also do you refer to yourself as a European do-gooder?

 

[Libertad]

As a deterrent/war tactic...attack/threaten where vulnerable and the vulnerable (women/children/older people/the infirm) as a way of controlling the capable.

Much the same as the present UK government's attacks on those in receipt of social security, though without the CS. There's always time though.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Also do you refer to yourself as a European do-gooder?

No, but then I don't have a good word for what exactly 'we' are. Neither 'volunteer' nor 'activist' feels right, as both of them sort of imply that on some level I know what I'm doing.

You'll not see me strutting about the jungle in a high-vis jacket, put it like that.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Much the same as the present UK government's attacks on those in receipt of social security, though without the CS. There's always time though.

Very much the same mindset in both cases I would say. Bombard, bewilder, do whatever you can to induce a sense of helplessness and isolation.

The piece I linked to earlier is titled 'a night of collective defiance' or something like that, which initially seemed a little flippant considering the consequences of that defiance for so many other people. But of course that's the whole reason the police do this shit, so that people forget about the mass mobilisation and mass action and focus only on the retaliation. That's what collective punishment is for. The French may remember such tactics from the treatment of their own people under nazi occupation.

 

[cesare]

No, but then I don't have a good word for what exactly 'we' are. Neither 'volunteer' nor 'activist' feels right, as both of them sort of imply that on some level I know what I'm doing.

You'll not see me strutting about the jungle in a high-vis jacket, put it like that.

You've been doing this for years though, Frank. Probably got more experience than most.

 

[SpookyFrank]

You've been doing this for years though, Frank. Probably got more experience than most.

Yes and no. I'm not usually there for long periods of time, because I'm a sensitive soul and I burn out easily. And every time you go the situation is different and you have to start from scratch figuring out what's going on.

 

[Treacle Toes]

You'll not see me strutting about the jungle in a high-vis jacket, put it like that.

 

[Treacle Toes]

No, but then I don't have a good word for what exactly 'we' are. Neither 'volunteer' nor 'activist' feels right, as both of them sort of imply that on some level I know what I'm doing.

I think the term do-gooder has negative connotations and is dimissive, but then again maybe that's just me.

I use the term volunteer mostly because despite the fact it feels a little wrong too we go there voluntarily not to do 'good' but to do 'right' because we can.

You are right that things and needs change quickly... I think the most any of us can do is not to be too precious/dogmatic and expect to learn each and every visit. Many needs are the basic ones we all share so those are a great starting place.

 

[gosub]

 

[panpete]

How heartbreaking.
That made me cry, it really did.

 

[panpete]

Yes and no. I'm not usually there for long periods of time, because I'm a sensitive soul and I burn out easily. And every time you go the situation is different and you have to start from scratch figuring out what's going on.

I still admire you. I would just be in tears all the time, or angry at the authorities who can just thoughtlessley bulldoze communities. Not only are they bulldozing temporary constructions, they are bulldozing all the love and solidaritary that has gone into not only building these constructions, but bulldozing all of the love that has gone into making what these buildings what they were, eg, restaurants, places of learning, places of worship, and places of love.

 

[weltweit]

Didn't know exactly where to put this so I am putting it here:

 

[SpookyFrank]

Didn't know exactly where to put this so I am putting it here:

Welcome

...for anyone who can offer their spare room to someone for a bit while they get their shit together. Your local refugee support organisations may run a simillar scheme.

 

[SaskiaJayne]

Convoy of 250 vehicles with aid for the residents of the Calais jungle stopped at Dover & prevented from entering France. Here. Not that much news about it that I can find.

 

[Pickman's model]

So much for the free movement of people

 

[quimcunx]

We've got on the ferry with a van load of food. Very few convoy people got on. Fingers crossed we won't get any hassle before we drop it off and we can get home ok.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Convoy of 250 vehicles with aid for the residents of the Calais jungle stopped at Dover & prevented from entering France. Here. Not that much news about it that I can find.

I understand that vehicles which were turned back are going to the French embassy to protest.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Mentioned on the news on R4 just now, briefly. The only quote was from the authorities, who apparently say that it had "the potential to cause violence", and also "facilitate the entry of illegal migrants".

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I understand that vehicles which were turned back are going to the French embassy to protest.

 

[quimcunx]

I got co-opted into this. I usually do the litter pick weekends rather than donation deliveries. I understand that there was importance in this convoy to show solidarity and draw attention to the continuing existence and plight of the refugees and this camp, however I think there was a tactical error. At the rally point at Westminster wrt logistics we were told to tell the border control we were with the convoy and, if turned back, rejoin the queue at the back and keep coming.

The convoy was a mixture of lorries and vans carrying donations and cars and minibuses carrying mostly supporters, rather than donations (many had passed donations on to go in the largest lorries). IMO it would have been better to ask the solidarity supporters in cars to arrive branded as the convoy at Dover but the vans carrying donations to arrive unbranded thus increasing their chances of getting through. For my money, once you've got a van full of donations the priority is delivering those donations. At Dover the convoy was filtered into 2 lines with a barrier between them and other vehicles.

When they started getting turned back and everything ground to a halt they got out of their vehicles and protested. Fair enough. However very little aid got through, maybe even less than a normal saturday, I don't know. We arrived (half-accidentally) unbranded and were waved through to the non convoy queue. We did get caught up in the protest but eventually were let through.

One of the largest lorries got through by going through the tunnel, but I understand the largest lorry was turned back.

The group from the Shetland isles did get through; they got a ferry to Aberdeen, then to Zeebrugge, and drove from there!

 

[Miss-Shelf]

Thanks for the report quimcunx

 

[panpete]

Convoy of 250 vehicles with aid for the residents of the Calais jungle stopped at Dover & prevented from entering France. Here. Not that much news about it that I can find.

sickening, sadistic, sociopathic, insane.

So much for the free movement of people

yeah deffo

We've got on the ferry with a van load of food. Very few convoy people got on. Fingers crossed we won't get any hassle before we drop it off and we can get home ok.

Fingers crossed to you x

I understand that vehicles which were turned back are going to the French embassy to protest.

Thumbs up

Mentioned on the news on R4 just now, briefly. The only quote was from the authorities, who apparently say that it had "the potential to cause violence", and also "facilitate the entry of illegal migrants".

FFS to the fucking authorities

I got co-opted into this. I usually do the litter pick weekends rather than donation deliveries. I understand that there was importance in this convoy to show solidarity and draw attention to the continuing existence and plight of the refugees and this camp, however I think there was a tactical error. At the rally point at Westminster wrt logistics we were told to tell the border control we were with the convoy and, if turned back, rejoin the queue at the back and keep coming.

The convoy was a mixture of lorries and vans carrying donations and cars and minibuses carrying mostly supporters, rather than donations (many had passed donations on to go in the largest lorries). IMO it would have been better to ask the solidarity supporters in cars to arrive branded as the convoy at Dover but the vans carrying donations to arrive unbranded thus increasing their chances of getting through. For my money, once you've got a van full of donations the priority is delivering those donations. At Dover the convoy was filtered into 2 lines with a barrier between them and other vehicles.

When they started getting turned back and everything ground to a halt they got out of their vehicles and protested. Fair enough. However very little aid got through, maybe even less than a normal saturday, I don't know. We arrived (half-accidentally) unbranded and were waved through to the non convoy queue. We did get caught up in the protest but eventually were let through.

One of the largest lorries got through by going through the tunnel, but I understand the largest lorry was turned back.

The group from the Shetland isles did get through; they got a ferry to Aberdeen, then to Zeebrugge, and drove from there!

I hope more unbranded vans can get thru, maybe the people's assembly could borrow their mates vans etc and get through that way.
Fuck them bullying you into forming a queue, to piss you off deliberately.
Fair play to the protestors. This motivation by the authorities, is just sadistic and frankly, disturbing and sinister.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Hindsight is wonderful, and the need to make a visible statement is fair enough, perhaps making that statement from Calais would have been better though? Wasn't the whole convoy banned by the French before it even left London?