French border police threaten ban of around 250 UK vehicles traveling to camp
CAMPAIGNERS with two mini-buses full of supplies to help refugees in the Calais refugee camp in France will leave Glasgow tomorrow night (Friday 17th June) for London, despite French border police saying they will not allow passage by ferry.
Scots have donated hundreds of pounds in recent days for the effort, which will see the Scottish vehicles meet up with hundreds of others from across the UK in London before departing from Whitehall on Saturday morning.
Activists with tonnes of clothes, sleeping bags, toiletries, tents and camping equipment and money for food and gas canisters will confront French border guards in Dover in an attempt to board ferries they have already paid for.
“How out of touch with the public mood are the French authorities? People in France and the UK, as well as across Europe want to help refugees living in crisis conditions.” Gregor Clunie
Gregor Clunnie, one of the organisers of the Scottish vehicles told CommonSpace that the estimated 250 vehicles from the UK convoy would be travelling regardless of attempts at a ban.
He said: “How out of touch with the public mood are the French authorities? People in France and the UK, as well as across Europe want to help refugees living in crisis conditions.
“The border police will not stop us getting through to deliver aid to the people in Calais.”
Clunie said that Europeans would have to rise to the task of helping people from around the world, as global instability created more refugee crises.
“With climate change and the continuing destabilisation of the Middle East it’s probably the first of a few different mass migrations, and European governments and the EU have proved themselves to be entirely incapable of dealing with this.
“Britain’s role in this in particular has been pretty abhorrent. It played a leading role in cancelling and rolling back funding for the Italian-led search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean, and refusing to take any refugees who have made it to continental Europe.”
“We will bring solidarity to the camp, but also cut against the dominant narrative of the EU referendum, which has seen a great deal of xenophobic rhetoric aimed at immigrants and refugees.”
“We will bring solidarity to the camp, but also cut against the dominant narrative of the EU referendum, which has seen a great deal of xenophobic rhetoric aimed at immigrants and refugees.”
There are around 5000 people crammed into what has become known as ‘the jungle’ – an overcrowded refugee camp in Calais. Conditions in the camp are poor, with refugees, many of whom have travelled from some of the world’s most war-torn regions, lacking basic utilities.
The convoy is being sponsored by a range of organisations, including The People’s Assembly Against Austerity, the leftwing Labour party group Momentum, the Muslim Association of Britain, the refugee charity Care for Calais and a range of trade unions including Unite, PCS, FBU, Unison and CWU.
French migrant solidarity groups will meet up with the UK convoy in Calais, as part of an international demonstration to help the more than 1 million refugees who have fled to Europe over the last 18 months.
Those looking to support the convoy, which is now calling on the UK Government to intervene to help with the crossing to France, can donate at the bottom of the page here.
Picture courtesy of malachybrowne
Check out what people are saying about how important CommonSpace is. Pledge your support today.
