We arrived on-site today to find that, once again, a clearance had been conducted. Once again, those forced to sleep outside in the Dunkirk area had their makeshift shelters and tents destroyed, sleeping bags stolen and possessions confiscated. The demand for these materials has already been growing due to the recent increase in population, but now even refugees who have been sleeping here for months must start again from scratch.
During an eviction, in the early hours of the morning, vans full of CRS (riot police) will drive up as close as possible to those camping in the woodland and insist the occupants of any tents immediately leave the area. Those who are not intimidated into leaving immediately will be forcibly removed before their tents are slashed and rendered unusable by the police. Following this, large diggers will gather the ruined tents before loading them into a skip and taking them to a landfill. We often hear that those caught in an eviction sometimes do not have time to even grab their mobile phones, power banks, or other easily carried possessions.
Due to the milder temperatures and growing numbers, we expect these actions could be as regular as they were last summer, with large amounts of tents being destroyed every week. This is a potential eventuality we need to be prepared for, and right now our stocks for all items are extremely low. If you are able to spare any equipment or donate to our fundraiser aiming to raise money to purchase these items, please do so at:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mrsspringappeal
Even simply sharing this post can help, in order to raise awareness of the current situation and harsh measures being taken by the French authorities. Thank you.
