The ‘Jungle’ migrant camp in Calais, northern France, is home to over 5,000 people living in miserable conditions. Many of the residents, who have escaped war and persecution, are now seeking a better life in the UK.
It is a source of frustration for the French government, where in recent weeks there have been moves to reduce the size of the Jungle, including relocating residents to converted shipping containers and bulldozing sections of the camp.
On Saturday January 23, a demonstration organized by activist groups from France and the UK drew a crowd of around 2,000 campaigners and migrants, where they marched from the Jungle to the city’s central square.
Yet tensions rose when more than 100 migrants broke away from the crowd, storming the port, with 50 people successfully boarding a UK-bound passenger ferry named The Spirit of Britain.
VICE News meets residents of the Calais Jungle camp as authorities prepare to bulldoze parts of the site and reports from Saturday’s demonstration, witnessing the chaos that follows.
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