UN’s centre for migrants in Calais

Fearing a huge summer influx of migrants, the United Nations has for the first time in seven years set up a full-time advice and support service in Calais. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) left the French port in 2002 after the authorities closed the Sangatte reception centre. Now it is helping hundreds of migrant, refugee and asylum seeking families who are living in poor conditions while hoping to cross to the UK, by giving out information on UK asylum policy.

Migrants are told that if they make it to the UK and are caught, they could face a return to the continent or to their country of origin, unless they win asylum. The UNHCR said the 2000 odd migrants sleeping rough in the area should be allowed to make an "informed decision" about their options. Many are prepared to pay people smugglers up to £1,000 a head for an illegal passage to the south coast of England. "Most are motivated by economic or family reasons, but a few have fled violence or persecution and their well-being is of direct concern," added a spokesman for the agency. "Many have no idea about the situation back home, or about what they can expect in the UK."

The agency originally left Calais in 2002 after an agreement between Britain and France to close the Sangatte Red Cross Centre, which had acted as a magnet for thousands of illegal migrants heading for the UK. UNHCR is working with the charity France Terre d'Asile, concentrating on those living in squalid camps like the one dubbed "The Jungle" in Calais. "The jungle" is the main illegal makeshift camp that sprang up in the woods around the Calais port shortly after the closure of the Red Cross Reception Centre at Sangatte in November 2002.A visiting BBC correspondent described the place as ‘a sort of shanty town’. He said “there is so much rubbish and litter lying about, it looks as if it has been built in the middle of a huge landfill site. Tents have been made out of metal grilles and chicken wire which have been covered by plastic sheeting and bin liners.”

Twenty-year-old Nassid from Helmand Province has been in the jungle for six months and is determined to make it to Britain, the broadcster reports. He tries twice a day to climb aboard lorries and trucks to cross the Channel undetected but each time he has been discovered. For him, it’s a regular routine – a quick trip to the police station, a written warning, sometimes a court appearance, but then he is just set free to return to the jungle and to make a new attempt.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children