Stuck In Calais
Stuck In Calais Aaron Chown
Nicknamed the 'Jungle' is a camp located just outside the french town of calais. The encampment is where refugee migrants live while they attempt to enter the United Kingdom. There have been various of the “Jungle� around Calais since 1999, where refugee migrants set up camp on unoccupied land, moving to new locations when camps are closed down by the French authorities.
In January 2016, 125 container housing units for 1500 people was opened by the French government, in hope to increase the quality of the living conditions. The homes of around 200 people, of the approximate 3,500 people living in the camp had been demolished by the middle of the day, as smoke went up from blazes engulfing makeshift shelters. Leaving a waste land with only religios and sanitary buildings remaining.
The situation in Calais is part of a wider migration crisis in Europe caused largely by the displacement of people from wartorn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Eritrea, and also North Africa. The camp is a limbo between waiting and entry, with an undertermined end date.