Dunkirk: A photo essay in which refugees seek peace.
/ from thefreeonline on Oct 31st ’23 by Rob Silent. at FreedomNews
Five o’clock in the morning. A March morning filled with fog through which the sun shyly breaks through.
When you let the air out of your mouth, it mixes with the cold to form steam, and after 15 minutes of walking, you start to feel the chill in your feet.
On the outskirts of the village of Dunkirk sits a wilderness area that legally belongs to the refinery. Under the name of the refugee camp, it has for many years provided solace and a space where refugees, tired from their journey, can breathe and prepare for the journey ahead.
It encompasses a large, flat area that we might call a threshing floor and a stretch of forest surrounded by a river called the ‘jungle’. The land dispute is hard to explain, revealing an absurdity and a sea of paradoxes.
The general idea is that refugees residing in France have an illegal status. The law, however, is more likely to allow them to meet legality on the land than outside it.
The area, however, belongs to a refinery, so the police evict them on average twice a month.
Crossings to Europe are challenging. The costs that refugees have to bear are often beyond their means.
Refugee camp: a stop on an uneasy road
Dunkirk mainly receives refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Iran and Kurdistan (and other areas where Kurds live). These places are subject to war, political persecution, and war crimes. The economy is devastated by long-running conflicts, and security is under constant threat.
The savings of their entire family usually finance the crossing of one refugee. Remember that we are talking about countries where the average monthly income, according to administrative data, fluctuates around two hundred dollars.
Continue reading “Life on the border in photos: A report from the refugee camp in Dunkirk”
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