Visualizzazione post con etichetta Jungle. Mostra tutti i post
Visualizzazione post con etichetta Jungle. Mostra tutti i post
A young Afghan migrant gets a haircut at a squalid area in Calais where hundreds of refugees have gathered since demolition of the nearby ‘Jungle’. About 200 of them are unaccompanied children. JUSTIN SUTCLIFFE
Christina Lamb del The Times e The Sunday Times era a Calais questa settimana. Quello che ha potuto vedere è la cruda verità che tanti giovani rifugiati si trovano ad affrontare ogni giorno.

In una giornata limpida Meles, 16 anni, di fronte a Calais dove trascorre la maggior parte del suo tempo in attesa del prossimo traghetto verso la Gran Bretagna.

"Spero ci sia uno dei nostri", dice malinconicamente. Negli ultimi due mesi, l'adolescente eritreo ha cercato quasi tutti i giorni di attraversare la frontiera a bordo di un camion, incastrato tra i pneumatici per evitare di essere trovati dai conducenti del camion o da telecamere a ricerca di calore all'interno del porto.

Quella mattina alle 5:15 circa, dormiva con un gruppo di profughi su giacigli di cartone, quando sono stati svegliati dalla polizia in tenuta antisommossa che ha sparato lacrimogeni e spray al pepe e li ha colpiti con manganelli.

Otto mesi dopo la demolizione della giungla Calais, il campo profughi più grande di Francia, 500 rifugiati si sono stanziati intorno alla zona industriale. Le autorità locali sono cercano di ostacolare la creazione di un altro campo informale, perciò è intervenuta la polizia in tenuta antisommossa cercando di fermare le associazioni che forniscono cibo e acqua.

Un rapporto redatto da Jacques Toubon, il cosiddetto "difensore dei diritti", il cui team ha visitato la zona la scorsa settimana, ha detto detto che i richiedenti asilo vivono nel "sottobosco" col rischio di essere "sgomberati di notte e di giorno". Sono "in uno stato di stanchezza fisica e mentale".

I Minori Soli dormono nei boschi, sulle strade e nei campi in una situazione di perenne pericolo di abuso di ogni tipo.

Circa 200 dei rifugiati sono minori non accompagnati di età compresa tra i 12 e 17 anni. La maggior parte sono maschi e provengono dall'Afghanistan ed Eritrea, nonché alcuni sudanesi, iracheni e pakistani, e tutti stanno cercando di nascondersi dentro o sotto un camion per raggiungere il Regno Unito dove hanno alcuni parenti che potrebbero aiutarli.
La Jungle, che ospitava più di 9.000 persone, era squallida, ma adesso è molto peggio. Alcuni vivono nei boschi e dormono in mezzo a un mucchio di rifiuti industriali e asfalto, perché è più caldo di notte. È un posto fetido disseminato di detriti — coperte, scarpe, bucce di banana e altro. Escrementi umani ovunque. Ai volontari è stato impedita l'installazione di un punto acqua così da consentire ai rifugiati di lavarsi, infatti a causa della cattiva igiene molti hanno la scabbia.
"Stiamo vivendo come gli animali," dice Khan, 16 anni, afgano fuggito dal proprio paese dopo che la sua famiglia ha ricevuto minacce dai talebani. " Mio padre si è rifiutato così hanno ucciso mio fratello. A quel punto mio padre mi ha detto di andare."

Un altro fratello, Farhad, era già nel Regno Unito e lavora in una pizzeria nel sud di Londra e ha inviato a Khan $7.000 (£5.470) per raggiungerlo. Ha viaggiato quasi 5.000 miglia dall'Afghanistan in Francia ma le ultime 26 miglia attraverso il canale sono le più difficili. Da un anno vive nei boschi.
"Gli europei trattano i cani meglio degli afgani".


Martedì la High Court inizierà ad udire la ONG Help Refugees che chiede al governo di riaprire il regime Dubs, approvato dal Parlamento l'anno scorso, per dare rifugio a 3.500 migranti minorenni non accompagnati in Francia, Italia e Grecia.
Quest'anno il governo ha improvvisamente annunciato che avrebbe preso solo 350 nell'ambito del regime Dubs, che prende il nome dall'ex deputato laburista Dubs, arrivato in Gran Bretagna tra i minorenni ebrei salvati dal Regno Unito dai nazisti,
Successivamente (a seguito di proteste, ndt) il governo ha deciso di elevare il numero a 480, ma in realtà solo 200 minori rifugiati sono stati davvero accolti.
"Stiamo intraprendendo questa azione legale perché i minori soli in Europasono costretti a vivere nei boschi, per strada e in campi profughi con posti insufficienti, in una situazione di costante precarietà e pericolo di abusi," ha detto Josie Naughton, co-fondatore e amministratore di Help Refugees.
"Nel maggio 2016, una legge è stata promulgata al fine di aiutare e proteggere questi minori, ma per oltre un anno Amber Rudd e il Ministero degli interni hanno messo la sicurezza di questi bambini a rischio omettendo di applicarla."

Il Ministero degli interni ha affermato che i numeri sono stati tagliati perché le municipalità, che sono in responsabili della presa in carico dei minori, non hanno la capacità di accoglierli.
Ma un numero di municipalità sostiene che essi non sono stati mai consultati. Diversi leader delle Municipalità sostengono che non hanno sono stati convocati per alcuna formale consultazione e insistono che hanno almeno 300 posti supplementari disponibili oltre ai 480 dichiarati.
"Se una consultazione c'è stata, era superficiale al punto che non riconoscono neppure che era una consultazione," ha detto Julian Bell, capo del Consiglio di Ealing ad ovest di Londra. Steve Miley, direttore di servizi alla famiglia a Hammersmith e Fulham a ovest di Londra, l'ha descritta come "una consultazione invisibile".
"Ci sono centinaia di spazi disponibili per questi minori e il Ministero degli interni lo sa," ha detto Naughton. "Questo è imperdonabile, si stanno girando le spalle a questi bambini condannandoli a un destino oscuro e sconosciuto."

Le associazioni sono autorizzate a servire cibo ai rifugiati solo una volta al giorno. Il sindaco di Calais, Natacha Bouchart, ha cercato di vietare la distribuzione alimentare fino a quando il tribunale ha dichiarato il divieto come disumano.
Intorno alle 18 ogni giorno, in un tratto di terreno della zona industriale sotto dei piloni, ci sono furgoni di volontari che distribuiscono curry, insalata e hummus, come anche acqua.
Un volontario porta un generatore di modo che i rifugiati possano ricaricare i loro telefoni cellulari e un grande cassa da cui ascoltare un pò di musica, creando un'atmosfera quasi da festival. I Van di Médecins Sans Frontières e Ginecologia senza frontiere offrono consigli medici e un ufficio mobile di Refugee Youth Service offre informazioni legali.
Tutto questo sotto lo sguardo vigile di 15 agenti di polizia in tenuta antisommossa che alle 19:30 intimano a tutti di spostarsi.
Qualche protesta. Una recente indagine di Refugee Rights Data Project ha descritto la brutalità della polizia come "endemica" a Calais. 84% degli intervistati ha dichiarato che è stato utilizzato gas lacrimogeno e il 52,7% altre forme di violenza fisica. I dati sono ancora più elevati tra i minori.
"Il tutto è disumano," ha detto Sam Jones, uno chef che gestisce la cucina della comunità dei rifugiati e ha un team di 15 persone per far fronte a 2.000 pasti al giorno. "Non sappiamo quanto ancora saremo autorizzati a dar loro da mangiare. Jones dichiara che "Persone che erano nella giungla di Calais stanno tornando, per provare di nuovo a passare, ma ora è più difficile".

Un grande muro metallico è stato costruito intorno al porto di Calais, costato 2 milioni di sterline, ha di fatto bloccato la porta di ingresso in Gran Bretagna. Diversi rifugiati sono morti cercando di accedervi, cadendo dai camion.
Nelle ultime settimane si sono viste scene violente con i camionisti che si lamentano che gli immigrati stanno facendo delle barricate per costringerli a fermarsi così da poter salire a bordo agevolmente. I minori che vivono nel fango di Calais, avendo già viaggiato migliaia e migliaia di kilometri e visto di tutto durante la traversata del deserto, della montagna e del mare, non avrebbero mai immaginato che le ultime 26 miglia fossero così difficili.


Autore: Christina Lamb del The Times

Traduzione a cura di: Lisanna Genuardi e Leonardo Cavaliere

Foto di Justin Sutcliffe

Articolo Originale

E-BOOK GRATIS
SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati
byminori stranieri non accompagnati
in , , , , , ,
17:04

I Minori rifugiati in Europa dormono in luoghi di fortuna, per le strade e nei campi profughi esposti al pericolo di ogni tipo di abuso.

A young Afghan migrant gets a haircut at a squalid area in Calais where hundreds of refugees have gathered since demolition of the nearby ...
Leggi tutto
Dallo sgombero della c.d. "the jungle" di Calais è passato diverso tempo. Quando il campo è stato demolito si diceva "Jungle Finish", ma a distanza di tempo i migranti sono rimasti nei dintorni completamente abbandonati a se stessi, tra questi moltissimi minori, tra cui tantissimi non accompagnati.

Al link di seguito Il reportage di Aisha Gani per Buzzfeed 



E-BOOK GRATIS
SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati
byminori stranieri non accompagnati
in , , , , , ,
15:01

I bambini dimenticati della Jungle di Calais

Dallo sgombero della c.d. "the jungle" di Calais è passato diverso tempo. Quando il campo è stato demolito si diceva "Ju...
Leggi tutto
36 minori non accompagnati che vivevano nella “The Jungle” di Calais hanno promosso un’azione legale contro il Ministero degli Interni britannico.

I ragazzi sostengono che il Ministero, presieduto da Ambra Rudd,  ha rinnegato il proprio impegno a trasferire i minori rifugiati e vulnerabili nel Regno Unito, violando la sezione 67 dell’Immigration Act, conosciuta come emendamento Dubs che prevede la possibilità di far entrare legalmente bambini particolarmente vulnerabili a discrezione del governo.

A 28 dei 36 msna è stata respinta la domanda, mentre altri 8 sono in attesa  di decisione.

Quest'azione, prima nel suo genere è destinata a fare scuola.

Per maggiori informazioni clicca qui https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/28/calais-child-asylum-seekers-legal-action-against-uk-government

Leonardo Cavaliere


E-BOOK GRATIS
SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati
byminori stranieri non accompagnati
in , , , , , ,
11:16

Minori richiedenti asilo intraprendono un'azione legale contro il governo del Regno Unito

36 minori non accompagnati che vivevano nella “The Jungle” di Calais hanno promosso un’ azione legale contro il Ministero degli Interni b...
Leggi tutto
Alle ore 6 del 24 ottobre è iniziato lo sgombero della Jungle di Calais. Lo sgombero dell'insediamento informale porta con se le polemiche sull'accoglienza dei minori non accompagnati che restano una delle questioni più urgenti da risolvere. Nel frattempo, con l'arrivo dei primi migranti minorenni in Inghilterra sono scoppiate le polemiche circa la "vera" età dei minori ricollocati.

Di seguito una selezione di approfondimento su quello che sta accadendo a Calais in queste ore.







La Lunga Attesa  Refugee Rights Data Project

What does the closure of the Calais camp mean for the refugees? Our panel discuss The Guardian


byminori stranieri non accompagnati
in , , , , ,
16:07

Lo sgombero della “giungla” di Calais e l’accoglienza dei minori non accompagnati

Alle ore 6 del 24 ottobre è iniziato lo sgombero della Jungle di Calais. Lo sgombero dell'insediamento informale porta con se le pole...
Leggi tutto
Importante Charity sta per intraprendere un’ azione legale contro Ministero degli Interni Inglese per il mancato accoglimento dei minori non accompagnati aventi diritto al ricollocamento e presenti nella Jungle di Calais.
L'azione legale diventa necessaria a seguito dell’annunciato smantellamento del campo dall’autorità francesi e dalle preoccupazioni per la mancanza di alternative per i profughi che vivono nel campo.
Di seguito l'articolo dell'Independent.

A leading refugee charity is mounting a legal challenge against the Home Office for failing to meet its commitment to provide sanctuary for unaccompanied child refugees.

Help Refugees argues that the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, has breached her relocation duties by wrongly applying or interpreting May’s Immigration Act.

Almost 90,000 child refugees who arrived in Europe last year were alone, according to official European statistics. The most common country they were fleeing was Syria, followed by Afghanistan and then Iraq.

The charity has provided legal papers alleging that it is “incontestable” the unaccompanied minors the legislation is intended to help “are exposed to serious risks of abuse and exploitation”, The Guardian reported.

Help Refugees' legal action could prompt a judicial review of the Home Office's actions.

The Dubs amendment to the Immigration Act in May stipulated that lone child refugees registered in France, Italy or Greece before 20 March could be resettled in the UK.

As part of the amendment, the Government pledged it would “make arrangements to relocate to the UK” a number of unaccompanied children “as soon as possible”.

Yet, several months on, it appears few children - if any - have been relocated under its provisions.

The legal action against the Home Office comes amid concern for the unaccompanied children currently living in the Calais refugee camp.

French authorities estimate there are 7,000 refugees and migrants living in the so-called Jungle camp, but charities on the ground say the figure exceeds 10,000. Among them are an estimated 400 unaccompanied children.

President Francois Hollande has vowed to clear the camp. He is under pressure to mitigate the rising tide of anti-refugee feeling and Islamophobia ahead of the upcoming French presidential election.

Yet the head of France’s human rights watchdog has indicated the demolition will start as soon as 17 October, intensifying fears about the fate of the children currently living in the camp alone.

Last time the camp was demolished, 129 unaccompanied minors from the camp disappeared.

While charity leaders acknowledge Jungle camp is not fit for human habitation, they fear for those who live there if it is demolished.



Josie Naughton, co-founder of Help Refugees, told The Guardian: “We absolutely think that the camp shouldn’t be there and no human being should live in those conditions, but we need to make sure that the French keep their word so that proper alternative accommodation is provided and that the eviction is carried out as humanely as possible.”Jacques Toubon, the former French minister of justice, has written a letter to the Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, urging him to establish arrangements for unaccompanied children after the camp is razed.

According to Help Refugees, the Home Office currently has the paperwork for 387 children currently in the Calais refugee camps who have the right to be in the UK – either international law or the Dubs agreement.

Many of those in the Calais camp have relatives in the UK but have found the process to claim their legal right to asylum in the UK slow.

The Government has come under intense criticism after a 14-year-old Afghan boy who had a legal right to asylum in Britain was killed on a French motorway while trying to reach the UK.

The UK's new anti-slavery commissioner warned in September the slow pace of Brtiains efforts to give sanctuary to unaccompanied child refugees in Calais was exposeig them to the risk of modern slavery and exploitation.

E-BOOK GRATIS
byminori stranieri non accompagnati
in , , , , , ,
10:32

Charity launches legal action against Home Office over failure to accept unaccompanied child refugees

Importante Charity sta per intraprendere un’ azione legale contro Ministero degli Interni Inglese per il mancato accoglimento dei minori...
Leggi tutto
Un gruppo di parlamentari del partito conservatore hanno scritto al Ministro degli Interni sollecitandola a garantire che i minori non accompagnati con la famiglia in Gran Bretagna vengano trasferiti dalla Jungle di Calais prima dello smantellamento del sito. 

A group of Tory MPs have written to the Home Secretary urging her to ensure unaccompanied children with family in Britain are moved out of the Calais jungle before it is torn down.

Nicky Morgan, the former Education Secretary, is among the signatories calling for the government to "do more" to find a legal and safe way to get unaccompanied children out of the hands of people traffickers.
The MPs have called on Amber Rudd, as a Conservative, to "champion" the role of the family in resolving the refugee crisis. In their letter they write: "We must ensure that it is the authorities and the law that help these children, and not the criminals who would put them in the back of trucks or leave them to take their own chances.

"We know how seriously you take this issue and we want you to know you have our full support to act to ensure these children learn their legal rights to be with their family and get to be with them safely and quickly.

"We can do more to help these children and in doing so we will defeat the traffickers."It comes just days after French President François Hollande vowed to shut down the notorious “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais within weeks by dispatching its residents to dozens of “reception centres” dotted across the country.
Around 9,000 people will be moved from Calais to 140 centres across France in the coming weeks, Mr Hollande said during a visit to one of the new centres in the city of Tours in the Loire Valley.
The MPs add: "Above all, as Conservatives, we must champion the role of the family in resolving this refugee crisis. "Family reunion is the best tool we have for offering a legal and safe way to get unaccompanied children back into the arms of their family and out of the hands of the traffickers."
He will take up the position in October and succeed Sir Julian King, who was recently appointed the UK's EU Commissioner.
More than 4,000 lone children are claiming asylum in Britain, with councils tasked with ensuring they are resettled and cared for.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has called on the French authorities to speed up the processing of lone child asylum seekers in the Calais camp and settle them in new homes or reunite them with their families. The full letter organised by Unicef:
Dear Home Secretary,
Our Prime Minister recently returned from President Obama’s global summit on the refugee crisis having rightly committed to ensure that the UK can tackle this problem at its source. We now must show we can do the same closer to home.

Recently, a 14-year-old boy died in Calais when he fell off a truck while trying to reach the UK. He had a legal right to be with his brother, but having waited for months in wretched conditions for the process to work, he took fate into his own hands with devastating consequences. He had travelled thousands of miles to find his family and his journey ended in tragedy twenty miles from our border. 

We are sure you feel as heartbroken as we do about this and the conditions in the camp he was trying to escape. Children are living alone in tents donated by the generous British people, living each day in fear of violence, exposed to criminals and, as we have seen, at risk of losing their lives. With the French authorities planning to dismantle the camp, life is only likely to get harder for these vulnerable children. 

It is critical that we in the UK ensure that unaccompanied children with a legal right to be here are kept safe while they wait. This means working with France to ensure children are moved out of the camp before the bulldozers arrive, and into a safe place where they have access to the legal support and social care they need.

We must ensure that it is the authorities and the law that help these children, and not the criminals who would put them in the back of trucks or leave them to take their own chances. We know how seriously you take this issue and we want you to know you have our full support to act to ensure these children learn their legal rights to be with their family and get to be with them safely and quickly. We can do more to help these children and in doing so we will defeat the traffickers.

Above all, as Conservatives, we must champion the role of the family in resolving this refugee crisis. Family reunion is the best tool we have for offering a legal and safe way to get unaccompanied children back into the arms of their family and out of the hands of the traffickers. We must ensure we do all we can to use the love and power of the family to keep children safe.

Yours sincerely,

Tim Loughton MP (Interim Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee)
David Burrowes MP
Nicky Morgan MP
Dr Sarah Wollaston MP
Caroline Ansell MP
Sir David Amess MP
Jason McCartney MP
Flick Drummond MP
James Gray MP
Jeremy Lefroy MP
telegraph.co.uk Laura Hughes
byminori stranieri non accompagnati
in , ,
23:15

Tory MPs call on Amber Rudd to help unaccompanied children with family in Britain to leave Calais

Un gruppo di parlamentari del partito conservatore hanno scritto al Ministro degli Interni sollecitandola a garantire che i minori non acc...
Leggi tutto
UNICEF UK ha chiesto al governo del Regno Unito di permettere ai minori non accompagnati attualmente bloccati nella Jungle di Calais di potersi ricongiungere con i propri familiare o di poter entrare in Inghilterra in maniera legale. Inoltre, tutte le organizzazioni umanitarie operanti nel campo di Calais denunciano episodi di autolesionismo e depressione tra i bambini che aumentano con il prossimo smantellamento del sito. Abdul Afzali, che lavora per Refugee Youth Service e si prende cura dei minori non accompagnati all'interno del campo di Calais, ha dichiarato: "Alcuni si stanno bruciando con le sigarette, un braccio, poi l'altro. Altri mi hanno detto che vogliono saltare davanti a un camion e rinunciare. Purtroppo, la maggior parte hanno sviluppato grave depressione. "
Di seguito gli articoli tratti dall'Independent e dal Guardian

Child refugees at Calais plunged into despair by plan to close camp
Incidents of self-harm and depression among children in the Calais refugee camp are increasing as the mental health of unaccompanied minors deteriorates in advance of the site’s demolition. Charities, volunteers and aid agencies say they were witnessing psychological collapse among many of the site’s child refugees after President François Hollande confirmed last week that the camp would be shut down.
One senior official from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that some child refugees had threatened to harm themselves if the camp was destroyed. Aid workers also said other unaccompanied minors, many of whom are eligible to claim asylum in the UK, had talked about killing themselves, such was their despair over the camp’s future.
Abdul Afzali, who works for the charity Refugee Youth Service and looks after unaccompanied minors inside the Calais camp, said: “Some are burning themselves with cigarettes, one arm, then the other. Others have told me that they want to jump in front of a lorry and give up. Unfortunately, most have developed serious depression.”
There are at least 1,000 unaccompanied minors currently in the camp, and the British and French authorities have yet to develop a strategy to rehouse the vast majority of them after the site is destroyed later this year.
The approach of the Home Office is under increasing scrutiny. Despite a commitment in May to take thousands of child refugees from across Europe, it has admitted that not a single unaccompanied minor has been accepted. A group of Tory MPs is understood to have written to the prime minister, Theresa May, to register their concern.
Under a separate agreement designed to reunite child refugees with families living in the UK, only around 20 have been resettled since May and in these cases, charities say they have paid all the costs involved. The Home Office says it is committed to resettling “vulnerable children”.
Within the Calais camp itself, Liz Clegg, who runs the site’s unofficial women and children’s centre, said that from her observations, as many as 80% of the site’s unaccompanied minors exhibited mental health issues that would be flagged up as serious in an institution where normal child protection safeguards existed.
“They would be flagged up as ‘at risk’ – some would be placed on suicide watch. There is self-harming, repetitive behaviour; many of them are stuck in a loop. We have nine-year-olds who are barely hanging on,” said Clegg.
Grégoire Bonhomme of MSF, which has created a safe space for child refugees within the camp, said he too had heard of children threatening to hurt themselves when the camp was demolished. “Some said they will harm themselves because they will be dismayed at this situation. It is creating a lot of tension.”
However, Bonhomme also said that there was also a refusal among a cohort of child refugees to believe that the camp, which currently has a record population of more than 10,000, would be demolished. He said: “Many of them say: ‘It won’t happen, no one will arrest us, and if we want to go we’ll find a way [to the UK].’”Alexander Simmons, a volunteer for charity Care4Calais, confirmed it was monitoring “quite critical mental health issues” among a number of child refugees in the camp and that the longer they spent in the camp, the more vulnerable they became. He also lamented the fact that there was no record of the extent of the problem. The camp is not officially recognised by the authorities and no official mental health assessments have been conducted among its children.
Mary Jones, who runs Jungle Books for the camp’s child refugees, revealed that she had repeatedly seen new arrivals gradually go from initial optimism to a depressed state; some youngsters lay in bed for days. Simmons said that on Thursday an Afghan boy was taken from the camp to hospital after spending 48 hours lying in bed, unable to move.
On Saturday the charity Unicef became the latest organisation to criticise the Home Office over its approach to unaccompanied child refugees, demanding that the UK accelerate the transfer of vulnerable youngsters from Calais. Lily Caprani, Unicef UK’s deputy executive director, said it was pushing for the children in the camp to be placed in appropriate accommodation before any demolition began and for them to have access to care and legal support to process their asylum and family reunion claims. “The children in Calais need to know they will be safe before the bulldozers arrive,” said Caprani.
Charities estimate there are more than 400 unaccompanied children inside the camp who are eligible to come to Britain, but say the Home Office has not sufficiently tried to identify the exact number. More than four months after the UK government announced that it would accept child refugees from across Europe, the charities point out, no official process appears to have even been put in place to facilitate their transfer.
Josie Naughton, co-founder of the charity Help Refugees, said: “Currently no plan is in place as to how they will be protected and taken care of once the camp is demolished. We ask that the British and French authorities immediately put plans in place.”
Also on Saturday, French police fired teargas and water cannon at migrants and protesters who had gathered outside the camp in defiance of a ban, local authorities said. About 200 migrants and 50 activists assembled under a bridge to protest against living conditions. There were clashes as the police pushed the migrants back to the camp, and activists are reported to have thrown stones at the security forces.
Another 150 protesters who left Paris on Saturday on four coaches were blocked by police at a toll road about 30 miles (48 km) short of the port.
Teenage voices from Calais: ‘There is too much fighting’
Idrissa, 17, from Darfur, SudanIdrissa has been in the camp since February and is hoping to be reunited with his uncle in Birmingham. Since leaving Darfur last year, he has lost contact with his entire family and has no idea where they are, or even if they are alive: “I have tried calling, but I have no idea what has happened to them.” The teenager’s only ambition is to reach the UK. Waiting in the Calais camp has been a grim and depressing experience. “There is too much violence here. We feel afraid,” he says, gesturing to a group of unaccompanied youngsters nearby.
Yemani, 15, from Tsorona, EritreaYemani has been in the Calais camp for three months and is hoping to be reunited with his aunt, who lives in London. He is travelling alone and says that life inside the camp scares him: “There is too much fighting, people hitting each other. Bigger people than me hit me.” The teenager also says that the French police terrify him, pointing to a used teargas canister lying in the dirt outside a tent where some of the unaccompanied minors gather.
“They hit us, and fire at us,” he says, rubbing his eyes to mimic the pain.
Fadl, 17, from western SudanFadl arrived in the Calais camp four weeks ago, the end of a journey from close to the Darfur border via Libya, across the Mediterranean and through Italy. His aim is to reach London and find a job as a mechanic. He says that he is petrified of the camp, especially at night, and has sought the protection of Sudanese elders to keep him safe. “There are big problems here, people fighting, coming to the tents and scaring us,” he says. He thanks the charities for providing sustenance and says he is “extremely grateful” for their kindness.
Mubarek, 16, from EthiopiaA member of the persecuted Oromo people, Mubarek, who arrived in Calais three months ago, says his family are counting on him making it to the UK. Like many unaccompanied minors, he felt unsafe in the camp. “It is dangerous. Also, the police come in and scare us. If they try and shut the camp, they will be very bad,” he said. Mubarek raises his his hands and waves them frantically, recalling the terrors of his journey from northern Ethiopia: “I try not to think about it,” he says. The Guardian - Mark Townsend and agencies


Unicef urges UK government to speed up transfer of unaccompanied child refugees as Calais camp closes
Unicef has called on the UK government to allow unaccompanied child refugees currently stranded in the Calais migrant camp to come to Britain.
The organisation said it was concerned about the planned closure of the camp, known as the 'Jungle', saying it may lead to children disappearing before they can be processed.
Charities estimate there are around 400 unaccompanied children living there who are eligible to come to Britain.
Lily Caprani, the deputy executive director of Unicef UK, the UN body’s charitable arm in the country, told the BBC: "Last time part of the Jungle camp was demolished, hundreds of children went missing. We don't know what happened to them."
Despite this French President Francois Hollandevowed to have cleared the camp by the end of the year during a visit to the Jungle on Monday.All of the camp’s estimated 10,000 residents will be forced to move to reception centres across the country.
Mr Hollande is under intense pressure to mitigate the rising tide of anti-refugee feeling and Islamophobia ahead of the French presidential election next year.Far-right leader Marine Le Pen looks poised to at least make the run-off to become president and has vowed to stop France accepting anymore refugees.
The UK Government has also come under increasing pressure to take in the unaccompanied children.
On the first anniversary of the death of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy who was found dead on a Turkish beach, last month, migrant rights charity Citizens UK handed in a letter signed by several celebrities including Juliet Stevenson and Vanessa Redgrave calling on Home Secretary Amber Rudd to accept them.
Fewer than 20 children were granted asylum in the UK in the first three months of the year.Lord Alfred Dubs, the peer who helped force the Government to accept an amendment to the Immigration Act which requires the UK to accept lone minors, said “deeply saddened” the Government was still “dragging its feet”.
Lord Dubs, who was himself a child refugee who came to the UK during the Kindertransport in 1939, said: “Now that the new Government has had some weeks to settle in after the EU referendum vote there really is no excuse for any further delay. Theresa May and Amber Rudd should be taking immediate action.”
Unicef is concerned that the children may fall into the hands of traffickers who may exploit them.
In September, The Independent revealed the Home Office does not know where 360 of the vulnerable children who have already arrived in the UK are. Of these, 81 have been missing for more than five years.
Over the past five years, 9,287 “unaccompanied minor” asylum seekers have been arrived in the UK.
A spokesman for the Home Office told The Independent the Government remained committed to resettling “vulnerable children” but said the closure of the camp was “a matter for the French government”.
He said: “The UK Government has made crystal clear its commitment to resettle vulnerable children under the Immigration Act and ensure those with links to the UK are brought here using the Dublin Regulation.
“We will also continue to support the French Government as it provides alternative accommodation to migrants in the camps and returns those not in need of protection to their home countries. The Independent Caroline Mortimer
byminori stranieri non accompagnati
in , , , , , , , ,
19:59

Unicef urges UK government to speed up transfer of unaccompanied child refugees as Calais camp closes

UNICEF UK ha chiesto al governo del Regno Unito di permettere ai minori non accompagnati attualmente bloccati nella Jungle di Calais di po...
Leggi tutto
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

 

Minori Stranieri Non Accompagnati © 2015 - Designed by Templateism.com, Plugins By MyBloggerLab.com