Fashion grad travels to Calais to meet refugees trying to reach England
They call it ‘The Jungle’
Jack CummingsA kind-hearted graduate who went over to volunteer at the refugee camps in France has spoken out about what’s really going on with the migrant crisis.
Instead of just reading about the horrific scenes in Calais, Jasmin O’Hara travelled to Calais and is now raising money for the refugees.
The Trent fashion grad from Kent lives just an hour drive and a half an hour ferry from Calais, where thousands of refugees are trying to enter Britain.
Jasmin met refugees over all different nationalities living side by side
Writing in a blog for the Huffington Post, Jasmin said: “We were in the world’s worst refugee camp in terms of resources and conditions, yet we were welcomed with open arms.
“It’s amazing how only the people who have nothing really know how to share.”
“The Jungle”, as the camp is known, is divided into different sections of refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea and Sudan among other nationalities.
But the different groups all live in harmony together.
Jasmin said: “This struck a chord with me – it was immediately clear that these people, fleeing war and persecution, want anything but conflict.”
Jasmin has already raised over £40,000 for the Calais refugees
While in Calais, she met a man from Afghanistan who told her he had fled the country with 100 other people, aiming to walk all the way to England.
Jasmin added: “They were so hungry they ate grass and many people died along the way.”
Another man from Sudan asked the Trent grad whether it was cold in England, despite it being a sunny August day in France.
“Many many people from Sudan tell the same story. Persecuted for being black, many have seen their entire family killed infront of their eyes.”
The Trent grad is taking supplies over to the camps, including SIM cards, jumpers and sewing kits
The refugees invited Jasmin to sit around their campfires and even offered her tea to drink, telling her “you are our guest”.
She said: “I realised that the people in this camp don’t WANT to come to England. They have no choice.
“These people aren’t migrants…these are REFUGEES. They can’t go back, but they can’t go forward, they are stuck.”
The refugees are given one free meal a day but have to queue for hours in order to get anything.
“They are heroes. Their stories show more determination, strength and courage than anything I have ever heard from anyone in the UK.
“They should be an inspiration to us all.”
The refugees put up signs and even constructed their own small church and mosque areas
Jasmin added: “On the one hand we commemorate holocaust Memorial Day, yet on the other we turn away at people facing as extreme persecution as the Jews, right on our doorstep.
“What the actual fuck?
“A sign in the camp read ‘we must all learn to live together like brothers, or we will die together like idiots’.
“This needs to happen, and quick.”
Jasmin has already returned to Calais with a van full of supplies
Jasmin has already returned to Calais with supplies to help the refugees.
You can find out more about her campaign and donate to the cause here.