As I saw in Greece, razing the Calais camp will serve politics, not the needs of people on the move The dismantling of the Calais refugee camp brings a sense of deja vu for those of us who followed the eviction of the Idomeni camp on the Greece-Macedonia border in May. The streams of buses; the heavy machinery waiting to destroy the tents and shacks; the queues of bewildered people with their lives in bundles at their feet; the riot police standing by. For the refugees there’s the terrible uncertainty about what happens next, the fear of being deported, taken into detention, separated from the small community they’ve made. And there’s the anxious surrender to the inevitable grief mixed with relief. Will the new place be better, safer, or just further away from where you hope to go? Related: Calais 'Jungle' camp clearance – in pictures The message to Europeans is: 'Look, we’re taking control.' The message to refugees is: 'Don’t come.' Continue reading...
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