Calais refugees taking more risks to cross to UK as police continue with ‘cruel’ evictions during pandemic

‘People think the only option of getting away from that hellhole is taking a risk on a boat,’ one aid worker says. ‘We’ve seen life jackets being made out of empty water bottles. That’s when you see kids die trying to cross.’ May Bulman and Zoe Tidman report

Police destroy tents and remove possessions of migrants in Calais (Help Refugees)

Migrants in northern France are taking increasingly dangerous risks to reach the UK as police carry out “cruel” and “ineffective” evictions of makeshift camps in the region despite the country’s lockdown, charities have warned.

Police have continued destroying people’s tents and taking away the few possessions they have to discourage them from settling in camps in Calais. This is said to be exacerbating the suffering caused by reduced access to support during the pandemic.

Aid workers say there have been five confirmed cases of coronavirus so far across refugee settlements in Calais and Grande-Synthe, an area outside the city of Dunkirk. New people arrive every day and conditions grow increasingly unsanitary, raising fears of a widespread outbreak.