Calais migrant crisis: life in the 'Jungle' in pictures

Image 1 of 15

Photography by Zacharie Rabehi

On a clear day, the residents of 'La nouvelle jungle' (The New Jungle) can see England, but as winter approaches there are fewer and fewer clear days. The vast majority of the inhabitants of the Calais camp, which teems with 6,000 migrants living in increasingly-squalid conditions, are trying to get to the UK by any means necessary. Although a handful are seeking asylum in France, far more are risking life and limb by attempting to illegally enter the UK on the trains and trucks passing through the Eurotunnel. Since summer, at least sixteen migrants have died on the railway tracks stretching from Calais to the sea, the latest was struck and killed as he tried to board a freight train.

Migrant camps have been a fixture in Calais since the closure of the nearby Sangatte Red Cross centre in 2002, but what was initially a small band of displaced refugees has swelled into a sprawling camp of thousands. 'The Jungle' in its present form has all the features of a small town, including makeshift shops, churches, mosques, a bike repair service, and even a pop-up nightclub organised by British activists.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

However, overcrowding has led to worryingly unsanitary conditions, with debris and litter thick on the ground and few bathroom facilities between thousands – Médecins sans frontières reports queues of six hours for a shower.

After dark, bands of migrants begin the eight-kilometre walk separating them from the Eurotunnel terminal and look for opportunities to sneak aboard lorries bound for the UK. The chances of successfully dodging two rounds of barbed-wire fence, police patrols and vehicle inspections with dogs and X-rays are slim-to-none, but nonetheless attempts are made every night. Some migrants say they have tried their luck more than 100 times. After the horrors they have endured to get to Calais, including violence at the hands of police and militias, exploitation by traffickers and terrifying sea voyages on flimsy boats, it is no surprise that so many migrants are determined to reach their final destination – even if it means risking their lives.

Photographer Zacharie Rabehi documented the daily lives of a group of young Kurdish men living in 'the Jungle', capturing moments of fear and tension as well as everyday scenes of camp life. His photos can be viewed in the gallery above.