Adrian's visit to Grande Synthe camp in Dunkirk

After several weeks of aid being restricted to the camp, on the 8th of January Aid Box Convoy, The Bristol Based Group negotiated with the local Mayor to allow supplies of replacement tents and blankets to be allowed into the Grande Synthe Camp. Authorisation was given to bring supplies in on the 11th January- for one day only! The deliveries to the camp were to be supervised by council workers representing the Mayor's office to ensure that tents were replacements only as they don't want the camp to grow. The land is privately owned and has permission for development; the owners are also putting pressure on the Mayor's office.

There are currently approximately 3000 people in the camp. Three months ago there were approximately 700. More people are still arriving every day, despite the horrendous muddy waterlogged conditions.

Wyesham Scouts donated a number of large scout tents and some smaller tents. Ross for Refugees donated plastic sheeting to protect tents, insulation and plywood panels.

On arrival on the camp on Monday morning ABC had decided to get as much into the camp as possible, as they didn't know if they were going to be allowed to bring this type of aid in again. A large marquee was erected to store the materials, spare tents, blankets and lots of pallets. The pallets are used to raise tents out of the mud and also to make walkways across muddy and waterlogged areas.
There were a large number of volunteers who helped put up the marquee and fill it with supplies.

I worked with the French council workers for the early part of the day, removing damaged and disused tents. I asked Philip, the head of the group when the camp was going to be moved to the new site? He told me 5 weeks. He also told me the numbers were going to be restricted to 3000, the population of the area is about 7000, so they feel that's the maximum they can cope with.

The new camp is going to be within a few miles of the current site; it is being organised by Medecins Sans Frontiers. They have been given a subsidy of 1.5 million Euros by the French Government. The British Government is pressurising the French not to build the camp, as it is very close to the British Border

Most of the people in the camp are there because they escaping from conflict in the Middle East. Nearly all of them are Kurds, from Iraq, Iran and Syria. They are trying to get to Britain to claim political asylum. The people from Iraq in particular are escaping ISIS, where they have lost family members and live in constant threat to their lives. People are risking their lives to try to get onto lorries at the Channel Ports to get to the UK. I met a man, Kevius, from Iran, who spoke very good English, whom I'd met six weeks ago. He told me he'd tried to get onto a lorry 3 days before, and failed to get through. He will try again, as will countless others.

There are currently over 1 million refugees in Europe.  Approximately 10 000 of those are trying to get to Britain, that's about 1%. I am basing that on the numbers of people currently in Calais and Dunkirk.

Adrian Worgan
11th January 2016