‘An extremely hostile environment’: Refugee children in Calais face unprecedented risk of abuse

Unaccompanied child refugees in Calais are being placed in adult accommodation centres where they face an unprecedented risk of abuse, charities warn.

Hundreds of children sleeping rough in northern France in the hope of reaching the UK are finding it increasingly difficult to access food, water and information on their rights due to a ramping up of police hostility in recent months.

A rise in the number of unaccompanied minors in the Calais region has meant a state-run emergency shelter designed to provide respite for these youngsters is now often full to capacity, leaving them with no option but to sleep on the streets, The Independent was told as part of an investigation funded by our Supporter Programme.

More than 250 unaccompanied children were recorded in Calais during the month of August, some as young as 11. Charities on the ground said this was likely to be an underestimate due to the difficulty locating minors as a result of the frequent evictions.

In some cases, during large-scale evictions, children are transported by the French authorities to accommodation centres designed for adults, according to charity workers, who warn that this is fuelling the risk of exploitation and the potential for them to be lured in by smuggling gangs.

They said there was a “clear lack” of specialised identification of minors by the French authorities, who they said have a duty to protect these children during evictions yet do not always  enact their responsibilities to identify minors prior to evictions taking place.

Claudia Tomarchio, project manager of the Refugee Youth Service, a group supporting unaccompanied child asylum seekers in northern France, said it was becoming “extremely difficult” for charities to safeguard youngsters.

“There are continuous evictions, big ones. Minors are never informed beforehand and not given the possibility to decide if they want to access a centre for minors. They find themselves having to move their stuff and deal with the police without being able to explain that they’re children,” she said.

“Because of these continuous evictions, everybody is now more scattered around whereas before there were fewer sites and it was easier for us to meet people and keep track of the children in the camp.

“Many are sent to adult centres, usually without their rights being explained to them, with no translators present. This puts them in danger. Child safeguarding is not there anymore. You put them with people who could potentially be smugglers and could exploit them.”

As winter approaches, Ms Tomarchio said the risks would only grow: “The suppression keeps getting worse by day. Winter is coming. These children are not protected, they will keep sleeping rough. There is a heightened risk of exploitation and of being trafficked.”

There has been a sharp rise Channel crossings from asylum seekers gathered in northern France this year, with more than 7,000 migrants estimated to have attempted the journey. September was the busiest month yet.

Antoine Nehr, from Utopia, a charity that supports asylum seekers sleeping rough in the region, said there had been an increase in unaccompanied minors in recent months, with some as young as 11.

He explained that a centre in the Calais region where unaccompanied children can access shelter and support, known as Saint Omer, which has the capacity to accommodate 80 minors, was now often full to capacity – meaning children were forced to sleep on the streets.

“It’s always been awful for kids here, but now the general situation is getting worse and worse. It’s more difficult to access services and their rights. It exposes them to exploitation by other adults, and they face aggression from the police,” he said.

“They are lost. They face a lot of difficulty accessing food, water, information, and to their rights. Many lose battery on their phone, so it’s harder for us to stay in touch. This is the worst I’ve seen the situation for minors here.”

Emmanuel, 17, who fled his home country Sudan in 2016 and has been in Calais since June, told The Independent that on numerous occasions he had tried to go to Saint Omer, but been turned away because there was no space.

“I’m sleeping on the streets. I wake up and my body is in pain. I have a headache, but there’s no medicine. There’s nowhere else to go,” he said.

The teenager said he had told police officers numerous times that he was under 18, but they still acted aggressively towards him.

“Police always catch us. They take our things. They use tear gas and it hurts our eyes. I tell them my age but they say I have to stay in a prison for 24 hours. I’ve been there five or six times,” he said.

Ellen Ackroyd, field manager at Help Refugees, said: “In both Calais and Dunkirk areas, as well as in other locations along the French-UK border, unaccompanied children are in danger, surviving in highly dispersed informal settlements, and lacking access to basic needs such as drinking water, food and medical care.

“The perpetual and often violent evictions create an extremely hostile environment, and force these children to be constantly on the move. Rather than being treated as the children they are, they are left unable to access information about their rights, protection actors and child protection services.”

The situation is compounded by the dearth of legal routes for unaccompanied children to reach the UK, with the Dubs Amendment having ended in May and the family reunion route under Dublin beset with delays and set to end on 31 December when the Brexit transition period ends.

Lord Alf Dubs, a peer and former child refugee who created the Dubs Amendment, said the absence of legal routes to the UK for these children allowed people traffickers to “simply take advantage”.

He added: “We should process all the children with relatives in the UK right away. And we should speed up the process of taking vulnerable unaccompanied minors. It’s awful, they’re just hanging about there. They have police coming and confiscating their tents and sleeping bags. It’s awful.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “France is a safe country, where those seeking refuge can and should claim asylum. There is also a range of legal pathways to seeking protection in the UK and we will continue to provide safe and legal routes in the future.

“Our asylum applications from unaccompanied children accounted for approximately 20 per cent of all such claims made in the EU and the UK last year. 

“We remain fully committed to meeting our obligations under the Dublin Regulation during the transition period, including the family reunion of asylum seekers in Europe with eligible family in the UK."

The French authorities have been approached for comment.

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