 |
| Calais |
Homelessness,
Rejection, Historic, Current Cruelty
|
3
|
0-year-old Pakistani asylum
seeker Asif Haji speaking to IPS
“Human
tragedy should not be classified.”
“At issue is
the divisive policy which places refugees in ‘asylum-worthy’ categories.…
‘…First
are Syrians and other Middle East refugees who are awarded permits and
education.
‘Second
come the Afghans and Pakistanis who have to struggle a bit but are allowed
language school and work permits.
‘[Third]
… are the Africans who are widely perceived as economic migrants leeching on
the system and petty criminals dealing in drugs who are not particularly
welcome anywhere. This is unfair. Human tragedy should not be classified.’
|
S
|
 |
| African Refugees |
udanese blogger and Refugee
Movement campaigner Adam Bahar to IPS
 |
| Yemeni Refugees |
Politicians busying themselves with strategies and programs
and allocating resources to more programs to hold back refugees … should instead
“be naming and shaming the real culprits….
‘Change
begins by uprooting dictators who are clandestinely colluding to misuse their
nation’s wealth and remain in power thanks to the support of the pseudo democracies
of the first world.’…
‘In
dictatorships, young people suffer systematic oppression for a mere criticism
of the regime.”
Facing
‘joblessness and lack of freedom of expression’ and ‘following the lure of the
foreign media’s often empty slogans of justice and freedom, they (young people)
seek legal or illegal emigration.’
 |
| Middle East Refugees |
“His dream
of a better life of freedom and wealth evaporated when he reached Europe,” Adam
Bahar is paraphrased, “where he soon realized that freedom and human rights are
not for everyone to enjoy.”
On a clear day, the White Cliffs of
Dover can easily be seen from this port town in northern France overlooking the
Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel. Calais is the closest
French town to England and the largest city in Pas-de-Calais.
“JUNGLE” AT CALAIS
No one should have to live
like this
 |
| Calais refugees |
James
Rippingale reporting: “More than 2,000 migrants” languish “in a Calais Refugee
Camp for one reason alone”—a chance “to reach Britain, or die trying.”
|
2
|
8-year-old Whalid of Nuba
Mountain, Sudan, who has been living in ‘The Jungle’ for three months,
recalls a man pretending “to be Islamic” but who was “only interested in money.”
‘We were locked in a
small house near the water with around 300 others and herded like cows onto a
boat,’
‘The Africans were made
to go below and were nailed shut beneath the deck…. We made holes in the wood
just to breathe.’
‘I’d
rather be killed in my own country than die here, but I will never stop trying
to reach freedom.’
 M |
asters graduate in Food Security
and Agriculture (University of Khartoum),
Ahmed, who has been in ‘The Jungle’ for over a month, recalled to the
reporter that after “two days at sea, the boat’s engine began billowing smoke,”
the vessel rocked wildly and “refugees sobbed, screamed, begging to be saved.
Red Cross received emergency radio message; Migrants were
transferred “onto a small rescue vessel [and] offloaded onto a nearby cruise
ship”, where they were “surrounded by picture-snapping tourists.”
 |
| Calais refugees |
 |
| Somali Refugees |
The migrants
walked from Italy to Calais and Ahmed said after he tried “to sneak onto a
ferry,” he was met by “French police” who beat him and “dumped him at the
Belgian border.” At the beginning of September 2014, he “applied for asylum in
France” and is still waiting for a decision.
|
P
|
 |
| Calais refugees |
olitical cartoonist and writer
of slogans highlighting corruption and brutality among Sudanese government officials,
a passionate exponent of Khartoum’s protest movement, 24-year-old Yassen of Khartoum, Sudan
(also (University of Khartoum student in illustration), has been three months
in ‘The Jungle’.
Why? He says
he “became scared for [his] future because there was no freedom, no liberty and
[he] was on a government blacklist.”
|
Z
|
 |
| Sicily off Italy south |
aghawa tribesman, cattle and
sheep rancher, 24-year-old Nahar of Hamada Forest, Southern Darfur,
Sudan, three months in ‘The Jungle’ recalls snapshots from his journey to
Calais.
It was “…evening …on
a darkened beach, the refugees were
packed into tiny inflatable boats to begin
the crossing to Sicily.” He then made his way to Ventimiglia then to Nice by
train; and then walking to the Calais migrant camp.’ He said he had hoped “to
reach the safety of England and end his journey.” |
| Middle East Refugees |
The question is not “are we living
up to ‘our values’”?
The compelling issue is twofold: correcting
the harm of the past and stopping the harm currently perpetrated with impunity,
which is compounding egregious wrongs of the past.
Sources and
notes
“Germany’s
Asylum Seekers – You Can’t Evict a Movement,” Francesca Dziadek, August 22,
2015, http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/05/germanys-asylum-seekers-you-cant-evict-a-movement/
“Welcome to
The Jungle,” Web Exclusive, James Rippingale , March 18, 2015, http://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2015/03/18/jungle-calais-migrants/
James
Rippingale can be found @mrrippingale. See more at: http://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2015/03/18/jungle-calais-migrants/#sthash.hFM0n2Rh.dpuf
“Refugee crisis - Do we care enough?” Deutsche
Welle’s Quadriga August 20, 2015 edition
“Hundreds
of thousands are fleeing persecution, war and poverty – in the hope of safety
and a better life in Europe.
In
Germany alone an estimated 800.000 refugees are expected to arrive this year.
Many Germans are eager to help them, but there has also been opposition and
even racist attacks.
Can
Europe find a worthy answer to the migrant crisis? Or will we respond by isolating
ourselves further? quadriga(at)dw.com
http://www.dw.com/en/quadriga-refugee-crisis-do-we-care-enough-2015-08-20/e-18612192-9798
CALAIS today is a key
transport hub and notable fishing port, a center for fish marketing, with
additionally an estimated 3,000 people still employed in the town’s famed lace
industry. Ten million people visit Calais annually. In Northern France, “the
city’s proximity to England has made it a major port for centuries. It is the
principal ferry crossing point between England and France, with the vast
majority of Channel crossings being made between Dover and Calais. The port
accounts for more than a third of economic activity of the town of Calais.
Calais
overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel,
which is only 34 km (21 mi) wide here, and is the closest French town to
England. On a clear day, the White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen from Calais.
Calais is largest
city in Pas-de-Calais, a town and major ferry port in northern France; population
of the metropolitan area 126,395 (2010 census) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais
A lifelong American writer and writer/activist (former academic and staffer with the U.S. government in Washington), Dr. Carolyn LaDelle Bennett is credentialed in education and print journalism and public affairs (PhD, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; MA, The American University, Washington, DC). Her work concerns itself with news and current affairs, historical contexts, and ideas particularly related to acts and consequences of U.S. foreign relations, geopolitics, human rights, war and peace, and violence and nonviolence. Dr. Bennett is an internationalist and nonpartisan progressive personally concerned with society and the common good. An educator at heart, her career began with the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Since then, she has authored several books and numerous current-affairs articles; her latest book: UNCONSCIONABLE: How The World Sees Us: World News, Alternative Views, Commentary on U.S. Foreign Relations; most thoughts, articles, edited work are posted at Bennett’s Study: http://todaysinsightnews.blogspot.com/ and on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08UNCONSCIONABLE/prweb12131656.htm http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-000757788/UNCONSCIONABLE.aspx Her books are also available at independent bookstores in New York State: Lift Bridge in Brockport; Sundance in Geneseo; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center in Buffalo; Burlingham Books in Perry; The Bookworm in East Aurora
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