Calais - change the record

I have just returned from my fourth visit to Calais to volunteer with the charities that are helping the refugees who are stuck there. The problem seems as intractable as ever and I don't pretend to know the answer. Indeed, I would argue that there is no answer, if by “answer” we want a magic wand that can remove both current and future refugees from Calais without excessive state-sponsored force, give the town over entirely to white, French-born citizens and not take unlimited and unexamined numbers of refugees into the UK for an indefinite period.

That said, I am concerned that our society in general and our Government in particular takes an odd approach to problems where simple answers are elusive. There is an old saying that the definition of insanity is to keep repeating the same action again and again, expecting a different outcome, yet that seems to sum up the attitude of the French and British Governments on this problem. The French seem convinced that 24/7 harrassment of refugees by aggressive police will dissuade people from turning up. The camps have been cleared repeatedly – most recently The Jungle was destroyed in October 2016. And yet still they come, despite the brutal violence and relentlessly hostile environment. To continue this aggression cannot be reasonably expected to solve anything, but rather to indulge state-sanctioned bullying and sadism whilst grandstanding to the populist press. The British meanwhile think that all we need to do is extend the ugly, dehumanising steel fences in the Calais countryside. The UK taxpayer has spent £100 million in the last three years on security in Calais. Last week, Mrs May promised a further £44.5 million to continue the policy. Trump is rightly mocked when he talks of his wall between the US and Mexico, but the Brits are cheerily building our own pointless wall and no-one bats an eyelid. Three people have died trying to reach the UK from Calais since December 2017. Why do we believe that more of the same fencing will solve this? How much good could we do with £150 million? Can we honestly say that no-one can imagine spending that money in ways that honour and respect refugees and exisiting British citizens whilst reducing misery and offering hope and compassion?

The current situation is changing constantly; since Macron's visit last week, numbers in Calais have been growing daily. The incredible Refugee Community Kitchen where I was working was increasing food for each distribution as more and more hungry people arrived. The conditions these people are forced to survive are unthinkable to most of us: no decent sanitary facilities, no changes of clothes, no shelter from the cold and wet north European January nights, constant hassle from police including unprovoked attacks of tear-gas and pepper spray. And no obvious legal way to get to the UK, their coveted destination. The argument that we hear in much of the mainstream media, when they report at all, is that these are “economic migrants” who are somehow trying to cheat us. (Quite why “economic migrant” is a term of abuse is a puzzle to me in itself – which of us hasn't or wouldn't move home if we could find no work?) There will always be cheats in any system, in any group. But to set policy for the thousands based on the actions of the dozens is lazy and, in this case, a cop-out. And who is the “us” that they are allegedly cheating? Are we not all humans? Would we not do the same in their shoes? Why don't we all leave our homelands and loved ones, and cross dangerous seas in flimsy boats, walk thousands of miles, risk beatings and persecution, hunger and cold in search of a better life elsewhere? The people we term “refugees” are just the same as us – they wouldn't take these appalling risks and decisions if the alternative wasn't worse. At the end of the day, most want nothing more than to be able to go back home. The Golden Rule of morality is surely 'do unto others as you would have them do to you'.

In the 1930s and 40s we understood how to help the dispossessed and we did it at great cost to our country and to individuals. We were proud to do so. What would our grandparents and great-grandparents make of the muddy fields of Calais where affluent, safe Brits and French condemn the unfortunate to wallow and beg in the twenty-first century?

I suggested at the start that there is no answer, and it is true. But maybe we should stop looking for “an answer”. Thorny problems must be approached from many angles, learning and improving as you go along. A situation which is fluid needs a flexible and wide-ranging response. Playing the role of jingoistic, chest-thumping tyrant should be left to Trump. Yet timid and visionless inaction can result in equally cruel outcomes, even if unintended. Our shared humanity demands that we try something new. Anything. The current policy of allowing people to suffer while we wring our hands and build more fences is shameful. Part of the problem is the public perception in this country – people are genuinely frightened of uncontrolled immigration and it behoves a responsible domestic government to reassure and educate its own citizens and to direct immigrants to lives that will benefit all.

And until the Governments rise to their potential, give thanks for the unflagging work of the volunteers in Calais. I'm talking about the long-termers, not fly-by-nights like me. People who have given up their homes and jobs and embody a life of self-giving generosity and love to humankind. If you can spare a day or two, go and help. Or donate some money to help the teams provide upwards of 2,500 meals per day, not to mention blankets, clothes and shoes.

Visit http://refugeecommunitykitchen.com/ or https://helprefugees.org/ to see how you can help.