Calais jungle: Refugees sew mouths shut to protest over their treatment during evictions
Refugees and migrants in France sewed their lips together in protest over their treatment in the Calais camp known as the Jungle. Seven men, mostly from Iran, demonstrated in front of French police as the deconstruction of the shanty town in France continued after a judge upheld a government order to evict migrants living in the southern part of the camp.
Northern Iraqi migrant Sarwar, aged 33, said he did not know where to go now that the camp was being destroyed. "I'm planning to go to UK, but how? The border is closed. I cannot live in the Jungle anymore because CRS [French riot police] don't leave me alone, destroyed my shelter, and I don't know where my life is going," he said.
Sarwar, who has been living in the camp for six months, said he did not want to go to the containers offered by French authorities as alternative accommodation to the Jungle.
"France's government said go to the camp but the container is not enough to live, not enough for life, and why I'm happy to stay here? Lack of freedom. The camp is, I'm 100% exactly sure, like a prison. You go out, try to fingerprint, you go in, try to fingerprint, the prison is like that," he said.
Thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty, from Afghanistan to Syria, have converged on the northern port over the past year. Many attempt to climb illegally onto trains using the Channel Tunnel or into lorries heading to Britain where they hope to settle. Their presence has led to tension with some of the local population and to a permanent police deployment.
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