With its population growing over the last year, residents of the Calais refugee camp, known as 'The Jungle' have become a community, building a school, a mosque and a church – along with dozens of shops and restaurants.
Yet bulldozers are now waiting approval from the French government, after Calais officials announced that they wanted to raze half of the camp, saying that alternative housing will be provided and will come in the form of re-purposed shipping containers. This means that those occupying the camp will be evicted and if so, thousands of people will lose their homes and their community, one which they have built from scratch and do not wish to leave.
A man stands near the containers in the 'Jungle' camp, CalaisPhilippe Huguen/ AFPA child makes his way past shelters in a muddy field called the Grande-Synthe jungle, near Dunkirk, northern FranceBenoit Tessier/ ReutersA man looks out of his shop set-up at the refugees' camp known as the 'Jungle' in the northern French port city of CalaisPhilippe Huguen/ AFPMigrants build a new shelter in a muddy field called the Grande-Synthe jungle, near Dunkirk, northern FranceBenoit Tessier/ ReutersA man stands inside a shop in 'The Jungle' camp Calais, FranceCarl Court/ Getty Images
The shipping containers, of which 125 have already been put in place by the French government and house around 1,500 people, are not enough, because registration is mandatory for those who wish to live there, with many remaining empty. Refugees fear that by registering they will be denied access to live in the UK, which they are aiming to reach. Tighter border controls have left them stuck in France.
Those living in the Grande-Synthe Jungle, located in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of France, near Dunkirk, are facing a similar crisisas conditions in a flood-prone field continue to worsen. The mayor of Grande-Synthe, Damien Careme has placed restrictions on anything that might aid the camp's expansion, despite expressing his sympathies for the refugees who live there.
A French court has delayed the decision on whether to demolish half of the settlement, along with the eviction of the refugees with the judge in case being given a tour of the camp, to see the conditions for herself. A final decision is expected imminently.
Population figures are still being disputed, with the government saying that less than 1,000 people live in the part they want to demolish, although charity groups and aid workers say they have counted over 34,000, with more than 400 unaccompanied children, and have expressed concerns that the eviction is not a suitable solution. "We're worried that in days they're going to evict the people from here. The people are going to move all of these small camps all around, where the situation is very bad, much worse than here," said Pierre Cami, a trans-border doctor.
A Christian woman from Ethiopia prays at the door of the makeshift church in the southern part of a camp for refugees called the "Jungle", in Calais, northern FrancePascal Rossignol/ ReutersEritrean Orthodox Christians arrive to attend a Christmas service at a church in the camp known as 'The Jungle' in CalaisCarl Court/ Getty ImagesKibrom Kasta leads an Orthodox service for Ethiopian and Eritrean worshippers at a church in a make shift camp near the port of CalaisRob Stothard/ Getty ImagesA migrant offers prayers at a makeshift church constructed at a site dubbed the 'New Jungle', in the northern French port of CalaisPhilippe Huguen/ AFPThe Priest of an Evangelist church tries to prevent the demolition a makeshift structure used as his church in the Jungle' camp in CalaisPhilippe Huguen/ AFPFrench police officers stand guard as an excavator knocks down buildings including a makeshift mosque and Evangelist Church, in the so-called 'Jungle' camp in CalaisPhilippe Huguen/ AFPA man waits to enter the church in the camp known as the 'New Jungle' in Calais, FranceJeff J Mitchell/ Getty ImagesA man builds the roof of a new mosque to replace the makeshift one (L) in the "New Jungle" camp in Calais, northern FrancePhilippe Wojazer/ ReutersMen pray in the 'Jungle' in CalaisPhilippe Huguen/ AFPPeople talk in front of the church in the New Jungle" make-shift camp in Calais, northern FrancePhilippe Wojazer/ Reuters
Aid groups have filed more than a dozen cases of assault by police on camp residents, and are hoping this will influence the courts final decision. Until then, residents at the 'Jungle' must wait on tenterhooks, while the judge decides whether the only place they can currently call home will be demolished.
A man makes coffee and tea in his makeshift shopDenis Charlet/ AFPPeople prepare their food outside shelters in a muddy field called the Grande-Synthe jungle, near Dunkirk, northern FranceBenoit Tessier/ ReutersA man cooks inside the Jungle restaurant in CalaisDenis Charlet/ AFPPeople cook pan bread in a makeshift shop of the migrant camp known as 'The Jungle' in Calais, FrancePhilippe Huguen/ AFPA man walks past a makeshift restaurant in the Jungle campDenis Charlet/ AFPA man walks past shelters in a muddy field called the Grande-Synthe jungle, near Dunkirk, northern FranceBenoit Tessier/ ReutersAziz Khan, 42, from Pakistan, who was an aeronautical engineer in the Pakistanis Air Force, poses in front of his "hotel- shop" in the "New Jungle" make-shift camp as unseasonably cool temperatures arrive in Calais, northern FrancePhilippe Wojazer/ ReutersA man walks next to a shop in the 'Jungle' campDenis Charlet/ AFPA man stands next to his makeshift shop in the 'Jungle' camp in Calais, FranceDenis Charlet/ AFPPeople walk past a shop in the "New Jungle" camp in Calais, northern FrancePhilippe Wojazer/ ReutersMigrants use computers in a makeshift school in the so-called 'Jungle' refugee camp in CalaisPhilippe Huguen/ AFPChildren attend a lesson in a makeshift school in the 'Jungle' camp in Calais. The makeshift structure, which can only welcome daily a twenty children of parents coming from Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan, was installed next to the adult classroomPhilippe Huguen/ AFPA child's stuffed toy hangs from a tree as people walk in a muddy field at a camp of makeshift shelters for refugees, in the Grande-Synthe jungle near Dunkirk, FrancePascal Rossignol/ ReutersPeople walk past a makeshift Afghan restaurant called "Hamid Karzai" in the southern part of a camp for migrants called the "jungle", in Calais, northern FrancePascal Rossignol/ Reuters
