Two refugee camps- then and now

I gasp at my first sight of the so-called ‘Jungle’ Camp, which is of a sprawl of never-ending tents and of groups of young men walking aimlessly in squalid conditions. The 6,000, predominantly young male migrants originate from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea with a few from Somalia, and the camp is divided into these national quarters indicated by the respective flags. There are also about 350 women and 125 children. The existence of this refugee camp in 21st-Century France shocks and distresses. The camp reminds me that my father found sanctuary in a refugee camp in Kent after his incarceration in Buchenwald concentration camp and in 1939 fled for his life from Nazi Germany to the UK. I was in Calais with Exiled Writers Ink, a charity I founded in 2000, which comprises a large network of refugee and exiled writers. We are at the ‘Jungle’ Camp library to perform poetry and run a creative writing workshop and have brought books in the languages of the refugees. The spoken-word poets from Somalia, Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan begin by explaining how they originally came as refugees to the UK. The Arabicspeaking audience members respond emotionally to the Syrian’s poem, which describes the pain of leaving his country and of life as a lost exile: Andalucia of the Trains (extract) by Hussam Eddin Mohammad We shall leave our grandfathers Asleep under the oaken hill And leave at the end of the night For the farthest of borders … We shall tell how we crossed the Aegean Sea And were lost like Ulysses How we travelled the sea to a jungle in France And the rescuers surrounded us with barbed wire and presents. I was never clear about the means by which my father had reached the UK from Nazi Germany as he was reluctant to talk about his traumatic past. I always assumed that it was connected either to the Pioneer Corps, in which he had enlisted, or to the Isle of Man internment camp in which he had been incarcerated. Only this year did I become aware of the role of Kitchener Camp. As I browsed the internet about the Wiener Library Kitchener Camp exhibition, a photo appeared of Jewish male refugees on a Ramsgate Carnival float which proclaimed ‘Our Thanks to Britain’ and suddenly I recognised my father’s face. Opened in 1939 in Kent, Kitchener Camp provided refuge in old army huts for some 4,000 German- and Austrian- Jewish men aged 17 to 45. About 25 per cent of them were married. It offered sanctuary solely to men because it was German-Jewish men who had been imprisoned in concentration camps after being arrested on Kristallnacht. About 30,000 German-Jewish men were subjected to torture, starvation and arbitrary death in these camps, including my father in Buchenwald. The only means by which the Gestapo would release prisoners was if there was documentary proof of emigration, with the stipulation being that the men had to leave Germany within a few days of release. In the case of the UK, the documentation could be acquired only if the refugee had a British sponsor who possessed the resources to support the potential refugee. I have seen the desperate letter my father wrote to his contact at Triumph-Norton, the British motorcycle manufacturer from which he imported motorbikes for his racing, but the response was negative. Gaining a place at Kitchener Camp saved his life. However, the men had to leave their wives and children, parents and siblings in Nazi Germany and Austria. One fundamental difference between the Calais and Kitchener Camps is that no official organisation or government has taken responsibility for the Calais Camp, whereas Kitchener Camp was set up by the Central British Fund for German Jewry. The Kitchener Camp refugees were assigned to rebuild the Camp, which meant building roads, digging drains and refurbishing the huts. Eventually the Camp provided a range of facilities including compulsory English lessons, sports such as table tennis and football, a post office, a first aid station, theatrical performances, exercise classes, a concert hall and a donated cinema. At the Calais Camp, the socalled ‘Jungle’ mired in mud, the French authorities provide very limited basic utilities in the form of standpipes, mobile toilets and lighting along the main route through the Camp. In early November 2015 a Lille judge ordered that the Camp be improved to prevent serious human rights violations. Predominantly British volunteers provide services, such as English classes and assistance with building shelter and facilities, but generally they are not permanently based at the camp. Yet the refugees themselves have constructed wooden framed structures covered by plastic sheeting, such as the ‘Jungle’ library, Eritrean church, restaurants and shops, which they run themselves. Nonetheless, it is apparent that the refugees are unwelcome and unsupported by the French authorities and, furthermore, are under intense French security police surveillance. While it can be argued that the Calais Camp refugees possess some agency inasmuch as they have chosen to pass through the town, the Germanand Austrian-Jewish men were totally dependent on being selected for rescue by the Jewish agencies in Berlin and Vienna. It is apparent that my father met the criteria of age, urgency and prospect of ultimate emigration. Of course, as Calais is an unregulated camp, there is no limit on the numbers living there. In contrast, 30,000 men were left in three German concentration camps and an estimated 300,000 men remained in Germany, striving to be accepted by any country whatsoever, yet no country was keen to receive the Jewish refugees and many, such as America, imposed strict quotas. Similarly, the refugees at the Calais Camp have fled from dire situations in their home countries and experienced further trauma on the way. Eritrea is ruled by an authoritarian regime with forced, indefinite conscription in place; Syria is war-torn with diverse factions involved; conflict continues in Afghanistan with a deteriorating security situation caused by increased violence by the Taliban in the form of bombings and other attacks. Despite all this, as in 1939 the British government is unwilling to accept significant numbers of refugees, even from Syria. While the aim of the German-Jewish men was to seek refuge at Kitchener Camp, the Calais Camp acts as a base for refugees’ multiple, dangerous attempts to reach the UK clandestinely by lorry, train or ferry. Given that they have undertaken perilous journeys involving paying large amounts to smugglers, they are determined to reach their UK goal. Some refugees informed me that they therefore avoided having their fingerprints taken or seeking asylum in the countries in which they first entered the EU, although the Dublin Convention allocates responsibility to the state in which an asylum seeker first enters the European Union. However, some refugees intend to claim asylum in France. Indeed, many Sudanese are awaiting the results of their asylum claims to settle in France and the French government is in the process of dispersing the refugees to various parts of France. Hence, there appears to be an element of choice in terms of the country in which the refugees claim asylum. In contrast to the Kitchener Camp refugees, whose family members were not granted visas by Britain, current EU asylum seekers’ applications to bring over family members are, in theory, viewed favourably. The Dublin Convention makes some allowance for family unity. The humanitarian clause of the Dublin III Regulation states that an EU member state may bring together family members, as well as other dependent relatives, on humanitarian grounds (Article 15(1)). I am profoundly saddened and angry that the people in Calais are denied their humanity and forced to survive in atrocious conditions in the ‘Jungle’ Camp. Both in the 1930s and in 2015, refugees are under suspicion because they represent the ‘other’ and the tendency is to dehumanise the other. Simply, refugees are desperate to flee danger and seek safety, freedom and dignity. Jennifer Langer