Deplorable conditions in French refugee camp

Journal of Public Health | Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 830 Correspondence Deplorable conditions in French ‘Refugee Camp’ The suffering endured by refugees and other exiles in the northern port town of Calais, France, has been the subject of significant media attention in recent months. Renewed interest in the plight of Calais’ encamped population began to peak in April 2015, at the same time that the French authorities forcibly closed the largest settlement, situated in woodland adjacent to an active titanium oxide factory. Residents of this settlement were relocated to a nearby segment of sandy grassland that was once both a waste disposal site and a local shooting range. Followers of the mainstream media may have been misled into thinking that the crisis in Calais has a relatively short history. On the contrary, increasing numbers of people seeking refuge were identified in the region during the mid-1990s. By 1999, the French Red Cross, with support from the French government, opened the Sangatte camp in a local disused warehouse. Within 3 years, the camp was closed following sustained lobbying by the British government.1 During the ensuing 13 years, refugees and exiles in Calais lived a precarious existence, experiencing the full physical and psychological impact of repeated displacement, violence at the hands of the French police and far right-wing groups, and the absence of a state-funded package of basic health and social services.2 Cognizant of the complex humanitarian needs of this community, a small number of French associations and more recently the international humanitarian organization Médecins du Monde/Doctors of the World have provided their own patchwork form of assistance. In an attempt to provide a robust illustration of the needs of Calais’ encamped communities, researchers from the University of Birmingham, with support from Doctors of the World, have released the first comprehensive assessment of conditions in the current camp.3 This mixed methods study reports a series of shocking, albeit already anecdotally publicized, statistics illustrating the dire conditions faced by refugees and exiles in Calais: only one state-funded meal is provided a day, leaving many camp residents hungry; a conservative estimate of 75 people have to share a single toilet, far below the Sphere Standards for appropriate and adequate toilet facilities in crisis situations;4 piped water from one of the few available taps was contaminated with Escherichia coli and Coliform bacteria in excess of standards set by the European Commission5 and more. These finds are an additional indictment of the state-led response to the ongoing refugee crisis within the European Union. The rapid scale-up of a comprehensive humanitarian response in Calais, and elsewhere in Europe, has been hindered by an inability to depoliticize the process of migration at a national and regional level. To fulfil a commitment to basic human rights and individual dignity, we must seek to better understand the political economy that defines ill-health and marginalization among transitory populations, and with an informed appreciation of the processes of cause and effect, to press for the full adherence to legal frameworks for the provision of basic standards of care. References 1 Fassin D. Compassion and repression: the moral economy of migration policies in France. Cultur Anthropol 2005;20(3):362 – 87. 2 EMHRN. Calais, the violence of the border: fact-finding mission in Calais and Paris 25 January – 2 February 2010. Copenhagen, Denmark: Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, 2011. 3 Dhesi S, Isakjee A, Davies T. An environmental health assessment of the new migrant camp in Calais: October 2015. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham, 2015. 4 The Sphere Project. Humanitarian charter and minimum standards in humanitarian response. Rugby, UK: Practical Action Publishing, 2011. 5 EU Commission. Commission regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 of 15 November 2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs. Brussels, Belgium: EU Comission, 2005. James Smith1,2 1 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK 2 Junior Humanitarian Network, London, UK Address correspondence to James Smith, E-mail: [email protected] doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdv183 Advance Access Publication December 8, 2015 # The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected]. 830