Calais: an association receives a donation of 20 tonnes of firewood for migrants
Last week, the Auberge des migrants association in Calais nearly 20 tonnes of logs, offered by the owner of a wood in the Vosges, in eastern France. A gift that arrives at the right time in the makeshift camps of Calaisis, where the living conditions for the exiles are very difficult.
For migrants stuck in Calaisis this season, wood is a survival issue. It is used for heating, cooking, but also for drying clothes and shoes. Under these conditions, the donation that the Auberge des migrants has just received is a lifesaver. Last week, 20 tonnes of heating logs were carried by truck in Calais by around twenty volunteers from the association and from Utopia56. This dry and untreated wood comes from a family wood from the Vosges, and was offered by its owner.
“We are very grateful. We say a big thank you to this lady. With this wood, we will be able to last between three weeks and a month”, reacted Pierre Roques of the Auberge des migrants, quoted by The voice of the North.
Last winter, up to seven tonnes of wood were distributed each week by Woodyard. The volunteers of the project, supported since 2016 by the Auberge des migrants, are responsible for cutting wood, putting it in 8 to 10 kg bags and distributing it to exiles.
“A daily struggle”
In the makeshift camps where they wait while waiting to reach the United Kingdom, living conditions are very difficult. Accessing basic needs is “a daily struggle” for these men, women and families, according to a Human Rights Watch report published in October. Access to water or food, for example, is not always guaranteed.
Since September 2020, in fact, a prefectural decree has prohibited the distribution of food by associations not mandated by the State in several places in Calais. In another camp near Coquelles, the prefecture services have repeatedly installed rocks weighing several tons, to prevent food distributions and the filling of a 1,000-liter tank of water that benefited nearly 600 people.
>> To (re) read: In Calais, five years after the “jungle”, the daily life of migrants is deteriorating but the dream of England persists
Difficulties suffered on a daily basis between 1,200 and 1,500 people in Calaisis, according to associations. According to the Auberge des migrants, nine tons of wood per week are necessary for their survival.