By: Bram Wanrooji
The dismantling of the Calais Jungle has begun. This week bulldozers and riot police, armed with tear gas, moved in to remove some of the make-shift shelters. With this operation, another tragic chapter is added to Europe’s response to the greatest movement of peoples since World War 2.
Only this week the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned that Europe’s lack of response is creating a humanitarian catastrophe. Fences, security, repression and fear have paralysed European governments who have looked away, hoping the problem would magically disappear. They have effectively yielded the terrain to criminal gangs and people’s traffickers, with populations and volunteers left to pick up most of the pieces. It is estimated that over 10 000 children have ‘disappeared’ in Europe and fallen into the hands of the sex industry. 445 children are currently being evicted in Calais. 305 of them are unaccompanied. Are we paving the way for lawlessness and chaos?
The astonishing absence of any real plan has aggravated understandable concerns we all share about an influx of so many desperate people. Some of these concerns have spilled over into blatant xenophobia and violence, only mirroring and extending the attitudes of European governments. This puts people in danger, refugees first of all but also European populations who are already dealing with increasing insecurities connected to austerity and cutbacks. Will increased immigration lead to cut-throat competition in labour markets and downward pressures on wages? In this crisis it doesn’t matter that most serious economic studies highlight the benefit of increased immigration, especially in a continent whose demographic is ageing. It is perception which makes the difference and the inability to deal with the refugee crisis will quite easily invite xenophobic fears to surface.
The destruction of the Calais camp does not contribute in any way to a solution. On the contrary, it disperses the challenge, as refugees spread out and find their way to other harbours. Jersey obviously has a real stake in this.
My charity has warned about this scenario since last September. At no point did we call on Jersey to absorb refugees or take in Syrian families. What we did do was call on the States to deal with this challenge rather than pretending it didn’t exist. Is there a continuous dialogue with French authorities that goes beyond just security? Are the States reviewing our legal obligations and perhaps adapting them? By not engaging with this humanitarian crisis, we are effectively contributing to the gravity of the situation.
The Italian poet Dante Alighieri once said: “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” Now, without appearing too dramatic, this unfolding tragedy certainly deserves more than just some lip-service.
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