“SIX places left for Rouen!” calls the official in a red jacket, approaching the queue of refugees hoping to board coaches. “Where’s that?” asks Dilo, a 24-year-old Afghan, his belongings stuffed into a small zip-up bag. The official pulls out a plastified map of French regions, and points to Normandy. “Near Paris? OK,” Dilo agrees. His name is recorded, a green wristband fitted, and he is shepherded with other volunteers through the hangar which serves as a processing centre, and on to the waiting coach outside. As it pulls away, the advertising slogan on this tourist bus comes into view: “Follow your dreams”.
For the 8,000 or so refugees, most of them from Sudan, Afghanistan and Eritrea, who had made the camp in the Calais dunes their home, there are few dreams left. Many had hoped to reach Britain, across the English Channel. But the construction of ever-higher walls topped with razor wire around the undersea tunnel and now the port (financed by the British government), along with heavy French policing, has sealed the route. “I’ve tried so many times, but it’s impossible,” says Jan, a 29-year-old Afghan, clutching a cricket...Continue reading
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