Ten years after French authorities bulldozed the sprawling shanty town known as the Jungle, nearly 4,000 migrants and asylum seekers mass along the northern coast of France. They live in degrading conditions, enduring frequent police evictions while remaining determined to cross the English Channel to Britain.
Union flags flutter from tree branches in a brisk October wind above a woodland clearing near Calais. Inside a brightly coloured tent, an electrical engineering student from Sudan named Adam reflects on a reality defined by constant disruption. I live in a tent,
he said at a local charity-run phone charging session, describing how authorities dismantle makeshift shelters roughly every 48 hours. We have been evicted so many times. It is not worth having any possessions because the police take everything. I only have the clothes you can see me wearing now.
This transient existence marks a decade since the October 2016 demolition of the Jungle, which had grown into a settlement housing up to 10,000 people. Successive governments have spent hundreds of millions of pounds trying to curb irregular migration through northern France, including funding French coastal police patrols. Major General Duncan Capps, the Home Office border security commander, noted this week that the official tally of those massing at the ferry port and neighbouring Dunkirk sits at nearly 4,000. That figure excludes thousands more scattered across 240 miles of the French coastline from the Belgian border to Cherbourg, waiting in informal camps for weather conditions to allow crossings in traffickers’ vessels.
Living Conditions and the Zero-Encampment Strategy in Northern France
Human Rights Observers, an organisation documenting treatment along the border, recorded 539 evictions affecting 3,792 people in Calais last year. During these clearances, police routinely destroy or confiscate tents, clothing, and firewood used for warmth and cooking. Medical and aid groups working in the region report that these harsh conditions take a heavy toll on physical and mental health. In Dunkirk, approximately 2,000 people survive in makeshift encampments far from town centres, where women and unaccompanied girls face limited access to healthcare and specialised support.
TEN YEARS ON FROM THE JUNGLETen years ago this week, French police cleared the Calais "Jungle", the camp where thousands waited to cross the Channel to Britain.France 24 went back. The site is now a protected nature area, but its reporter found dozens of smaller camps spread… pic.twitter.com/rdlyPofOZm
— https://x.com/PaulGolding/status/2113942732540354809
Charities Provide Supplies and Legal Advice to Migrants
A network of British and French charities continues to provide vital supplies, medical advice, and legal information to those stranded in northern France. Organisations such as Secours Catholique distribute tents, shoes, and clothing while offering guidance on asylum rights. Some groups also provide practical information on what to expect upon arrival in Britain, including advice on finding UK lawyers and instructions to contact the British coastguard mid-Channel for rescue by Border Force vessels or RNLI lifeboats if crossings run into trouble.
Critics argue that these humanitarian operations indirectly assist criminal smuggling networks, with some calling for legal action against groups that aid migrants. According to a survey conducted by the UNHCR, 53 per cent of refugees and migrants in Calais and Dunkirk fled armed conflict or widespread violence, while 47 per cent reported escaping political, ethnic, or religious persecution. Seven out of ten originate from Sudan, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, or Somalia.
Police Tactics and Rising Tensions Along the Border
Data presented to the home affairs committee shows that the average number of crossing attempts per person has risen from three to seven. French charity Utopia 56 documented a 40 per cent increase in violence by police towards asylum seekers between April and August compared to the previous year.
In recent years, we have seen an escalation in violence against everyone at the border – including children and families. This year, we have also seen the police forcibly separating families, including by preventing parents from reaching children already on boats by taking hold of their other children.
Far-right agitators from Britain, Belgium, and Poland have also travelled to northern France to harass camp residents, prompting French authorities to issue entry bans against several individuals. Despite the hostile environment and aggressive policing, the determination to reach Britain remains strong. More than 200,000 asylum seekers have made the crossing since the Jungle was cleared, and traffickers continue to operate along the coast as thousands wait for the winds to settle.