Living in squalid condition under tarpaulins, paying mysterious criminals to help them perilously cross a dangerous shipping lane - who are the migrants at Calais? CGTN’s Ross Cullen went to find out.
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00:00I want to save countries in order to live and begin our life better than in the life
00:11in the Sudan with the war.
00:14In one of the migrant camps in Calais, we meet Ahmed. He agreed to speak to us but not
00:19on camera. He fled Sudan, made it across the Mediterranean in a boat and then walked from
00:25Italy to France. He now lives in a makeshift camp in Calais.
00:29I leave Sudan according to the war. The people are killing the people and burning the houses
00:41and taking everything you have.
00:45He is 18 and left his family who were in a refugee camp in Chad. He has tried twice to
00:51get to the UK by crossing the Channel. These men say that when the weather is right, they
00:56will get a call, giving them a time and a place.
00:59The second time I remember, they did not finance exactly. We entered in the water and we are
01:07going and the engine finished and we came back.
01:14All around the northern French ports, there are migrant camps. Police clear each one every
01:1948 hours. The people grab their belongings and tents. Law enforcement confiscate anything
01:25left behind. When the police have gone, the migrants re-establish their camp. When they
01:30do make a break for Britain, they face overloaded and faulty boats and cold water, wind and
01:36waves. And the English Channel is the busiest shipping lane in the world. Calais is the
01:42busiest ferry port in Europe.
01:44This year, from January to the 4th of September, more than 21,000 people crossed this stretch
01:51of water in small boats.
01:53Activists lament what they describe as the militarisation of Calais. There are miles
01:59of fencing and barbed wire all around the port. It's part of the French government's
02:03plan to beef up security in the border area. British ministers say their aim is to stop
02:09smuggling gangs, bringing people to the UK.
02:13There is help available for the refugees. Several charities are based in Calais. We
02:18agreed not to film the exact location of this warehouse as the workers fear possible
02:23reprisals by far-right movements. They already say that law enforcement impede their work
02:29in the city and they argue the deaths of migrants are needless.
02:33The atmosphere is quite heavy. We are in a mix of sadness and rage because we know the
02:40death of last week, the death of this summer, all the deaths in the Channel or at the border
02:45could have been avoided. Since January 1st, 43 people died because of this border, 27
02:52in the Channel. And yeah, 2024 is the year that I've seen the most people dying at this
03:00border.
03:01Refugees have been coming to Calais for many years. This is the site of what was called
03:06the jungle. It was a migrant camp home to thousands before it was dismantled by police
03:11in 2016. Ahmed and the other migrants like him have travelled more than four and a half
03:17thousand kilometres to reach Calais. And despite harassment by police, the dangers of crossing
03:23the Mediterranean and the threat of deportation, they say a fire still burns inside with a
03:29desire to make it to Britain and try to make a better life for themselves.
03:34Ross Cullen, CGTN, Calais, Northern France.