The Jungle
Cal ai s Re fu ge e Cam p The J ungle
A n I n si g h t By L u k e J o hn s t on
All Rights Reserved Š Luke Johnston 2015
November, 2015 Calais accounts for as little as 1% of the refugees who have arrived in Europe this year. Most of those living within ‘the jungle’ have travelled for months in a desperate hope to reach the UK. Fleeing from war torn countries, dictatorial oppression, and religious extremism they are finally left with the threatening challenge of crossing the English Channel. More than 700,000 people have reached Europe’s Mediterranean shores so far this year, during the worst refugee crisis since World War II.
Mulham Abufaisal, an agricultural engineer from Syria, has spent three weeks in the Calais jungle camp. Passing monotonous hours into the evening he uses a second hand phone in an attempt to contact his family.
“I want to go to England very much, we try every night, it is dangerous and makes us very tired. I keep my heart strong� - Mulham
Reaching the outskirts of the Eurotunnel takes over two hours, in wet and deteriorating shoes, the walk is tough. “Take the field, quickly, we can’t walk on the road!” The overwhelming police presence causes a very tense atmosphere, sliding into boggy ditches to keep out of sight is a frequent setback.
A huge security operation was organised late October 2015, bringing additional measures such as infra-red detectors, dog units, and reinforced fencing.
The new fine wire fencing stands 10-16ft tall, often topped with barbed wire it is one of the most challenging obstacles, it takes knowledge from previous attempts to find a less hazardous route.
Attempts to breach the terminal peaked in August 2015 with over 1,500 people striving to reach England per night, due to the increased security this number has since dropped to only a few dozen.
“See you in England brother, inshallah” - Mulham
November, 2015 Three miles from the centre of Calais, located upon a former landfill site, ‘the jungle’ is home to 6,000 desperate people. From the fenced off, well-kept houses on the edge of town there is a devastating view into the overwhelming refugee crisis. Risking their lives daily and surviving on charity hand-outs they fear the coming winter.
“The police on the tracks stopped us. They said there is no point, don’t come back tomorrow. They keep us for hours, they bring us back to the jungle and sometimes they arrest us for many days. My hope for England breaks every day, the thoughts of my family hurt me, I will keep fighting for them”
Although the rain is a further hindrance to the current conditions, Mulham comments on the peaceful sound made by the rain hitting the thin lining of the tent.
Re-using polystyrene cups Abo Ahmad passes scolding hot tea to his friends. In the early hours that morning they found themselves back, at the jungle, having failed to make the crossing.
Abo Ahmad Hsen, a pharmacist from Syria, made the journey to Calais with Mulham. “We are friends for life, we have shared the bad and good together, even when it is very bad. I won’t go to England without him.”
The Christian church within the camp, known to some as St Michaels, was built using donated materials such as grey canvas, wood and corrugated iron. The church provides people with a calm and sheltered space to pray, bringing some short-lived relief to those in the camp.
“We have all lost someone” - Shabnam, 39, Iran.
“I have nowhere clean to cook, I wish to live a respectable life, but the jungle robs me of dignity and pride� - Abdul Aziz
Two boys from Sudan carefully cut one another’s hair using razorblades that are pressed up against a comb.
Members of the camp, with the help of volunteers and charity book donations, work very hard to maintain a makeshift library within ‘the jungle’. The library now contains a large array of books including many English translation dictionaries. Farshad, 19, from Iran, browses through the pages of ‘Can art change the world?’, “I want to study in England so I spend much time here to read and improve my English.”
A charity-funded generator allows many to recharge their phones, for most this is their only way of contacting families back home. An afghan man reaching out for phone signal has been unable to contact his family for over a week, “I fear they are scared for my life, I can not tell them I am okay�.
Refugees wait patiently for charity bags of canned food.
From the right: Khalifa, Mohammed, Hamza and Zayed, from Kuwait, crouch on the ground for a supper of bean and potato stew with onions and moulding pitta bread. When born in Kuwait, they were not given birth certificates and since have never been able to claim for citizenship or a passport. “We cannot go back because we have no papers and we cannot go forward, we are without anything.� - Hamza
“We have never lived like this before. We feel we are dying slowly.�
Cal ai s Re fu ge e Cam p The J ungle Whilst writing my current dissertation that draws upon representations within British broadsheet media, I became aware that the vast majority of journalism and photojournalism published was dehumanising refugees. There has been an absence of dignity and empathy in the photographs published regarding The Jungle. Instead choosing to publish the filthy, squalid conditions of the camp, without intimately photographing individuals, using descriptive words such as “swarms” and “migrants”. This all helps to insinuate that refugees are similar to herds of animals, and that they are lesser than people. I went to Calais so I could gain a better insight into the refugee crisis. I was taken aback to see how different the jungle was in comparison to the representations of the media. The aim of this photo book has been to intimately document the jungle camp and the lives of refugees still trying to reach England. I have strived to respectfully capture their dignity, not their living conditions, and to photograph aspects of life we are all able to relate too. I hope that when you flick through this book you see people, human beings, just like yourself, who are in desperate need of help.