Shock allegations about last week’s channel tragedy
The occupants of a boat that sank last week in the Channel causing the deaths of at least 27 people may have tried to contact the UK authorities. The two survivors from the incident last Wednesday claim those onboard made repeated calls to the British and French authorities as their flimsy dinghy began to sink. The group set off from the French coast near Dunkirk at about 10pm on Tuesday evening. Their dinghy ran into difficulties about three-and-a-half hours later, when its right side began to deflate. The motor then stopped working. They said that two people on the boat …
Eid’s story
“If you have a passion you must believe in it, and go with it with everything you have. That way, you will find your dream.” In December 2017 a young Syrian refugee arrived at Glasgow Airport. People smugglers had brought him there, but he didn’t know where he was, and asked the Border Control guards who had detained him if he could walk into London to buy some food, as he was hungry. “I guess it broke the ice, as they all laughed. They said that would be fine, if I had about five days to spare.” When he …
Many more refugee lives lost off the French coast
We are devastated to hear that as many as 24 more people have died attempting to cross the English Channel to the UK. According to news reports from France, at 2 o’ clock this afternoon a fisherman raised the alarm after finding bodies floating in the sea off Calais. Reports say that between five and 24 people died in the water. This horrific news comes after an autumn in which five refugee have died, and five more been lost at sea on the UK-France border. Our hearts go out to family and friends of those lost today, and indeed …
Anur’s story
I’ve been in the UK since July now, and while I am glad I am safe here I can’t help but wonder why we spent 20 years fighting the Taliban. Was it worth it now everything’s gone? It’s a really hard thing to stomach when you look at everything we sacrificed and lost so that we could have a future for our children, and then saw that future ripped from us. I worked with the British Special Forces. I was with the Afghani Special Forces Commando, and being out there on the front line I saw what was coming, …
Fatemah’s family and the Polish border: update
Yesterday we received news from Fatemah and her family, Iraqi refugees stranded in Belarus who Care4Calais is helping. Although media reports suggest things are improving, the family is terrified of what might now happen to them. Their situation is extremely dangerous, and they need support. Fatemah was on the border near the Polish town of Bialowieza with with her dad and three children, but they became separated in attacks by Bielarussian border guards, as we previously reported. Fatemah is with her son and daughter, and her dad has her other son. Her husband Aras remains in Dubai. Fatemah has …
Piyaz’s story
Today I met an amazing man whose spirit and strength really inspired me. His journey had been incredibly long and hard, but in just an hour or so, he filled me with admiration for the resilience and resourcefulness he had built up during his long life as a refugee. Piyaz left his native Afghanistan in 2013, and to get to Calais, where he’s living hoping to get to the UK, he had walked most of the way. “Eight years walking. That’s being a refugee. No place to stay, and it’s hard on your body. Hard on your feet!” Even …
Paul and Chief’s story
Paul fled from Liberia to the UK in 2004, after his parents, brothers and sisters were killed in the second Liberian civil war. He had lived in London for five years, waiting on a decision on his asylum claim, when glaucoma in one eye began to damage his eyesight. Unfortunately, hospital treatments didn’t work, and then a problem with his other eye, has left him severely sight-impaired. He tries to stay active, but his eyesight is getting worse. The Home Office housed Paul in an east London hotel 14 months ago. At first he felt very depressed and isolated …
Another shocking eviction at Dunkirk
Today 300 French police brutally evicted hundreds of refugees, including many families with young children, from the camp in Dunkirk. Officers armed with riot shields surrounded the camp early on Tuesday morning. Surprised and alarmed, refugees had to pack their belongings hurriedly, fearful of tents being slashed and possessions taken. Between 1000 and 1500 people were estimated to be living in the Dunkirk camp. As we reported on Sunday, living conditions have become atrocious, with overcrowding worsening the muddy ground, and the lack of shelter exposing tents to the wind. Having endured life there, refugees were now bussed off …
Fey’s story
TW: r*pe, mental illness I think I have always known I was born in the wrong body. When I was little I loved all the ‘My Little Pony’ and She-ra Princess of the Universe stuff and wanted to dress like a girl and didn’t like “boys things”. As I got older I wanted to express myself more and just be me, but in Kuwait that is not possible. There are laws there that even prosecute you for just imitating another gender, never mind living as one. That meant I had to suppress who I was and how I wanted …
Anguish on the Polish border
Fatemah and her family are Iraqi refugees, likely to be killed if they return to Iraq; to make things even worse, Fatemah herself has a medical condition requiring attention. A few weeks ago, she and her husband Aras saw an ad for package holidays to Belarus that included visas that allowed you to visit the EU; thinking they could use the visa to claim asylum in Poland, they bought places for Fatemah, their two young children, and Fatemah’s father. Her husband stayed behind in Dubai, planning to join them later. Once in Belarus, Fatemah, her dad and two children …