CALAIS CATERING CALLOUT

Calais NO Borders activists are now having to shoulder the burden of food distribution in addition to their usual tasks of monitoring the police and helping migrants. Normally, two Calais based charities Belle Etoile and SALAM provide daily food distro to refugees. However, both groups are taking a break over July and August meaning the task has fallen to No Borders. They have coordinated a grass-roots activist catering collective operation, visiting Calais on a rota to provide material support to the ‘sans-papiers’ community.

The situation for migrants in Calais grows ever harder as the screws are tightened - SchNEWS spoke to one No Borders activist: “After the eviction of Africa House (see SchNEWS 778), migrants started trying to sleep inside the food compound area - this was viciously evicted so some ended up in a makeshift camp on the railway sidings near the river.” This was where No Borders started the food distro, but the ‘River Camp’ was evicted a few days later, with the now familiar methods of tear gas and seizure of migrants’ property. There is a co-ordinated policy of psychological warfare against migrants in the Calais area, with arrests, harassment and seizure of shelters all leading to continual sleep deprivation for the sans-papiers groups.

Police have also tried to drive a wedge between No Borders activists and migrants, threatening migrants with more raids if they believe that activists are present. The cops have also been using whistles (No Borders preferred way of letting migrants know about police presence) and conducting raids specifically to look for activists.

Currently No Borders are running a food distro in the evenings on a pedestrianised railway bridge - ‘The police watch us, but this is a very high visibility area so they seem reluctant to intervene. We have a lot of migrants who can come and cook with us now - so it seems like less of a hand-out’.

Calais Migrant Solidarity have issued a call out for food, tents and tarpaulins. If you can make it to Calais or just want to help, call 0033 631 869 878.