ADVOCACY & PRESS

Advocacy

Calais Food Collective has been actively involved in advocacy projects that push for the respect of displaced people by the French authorities.

The obligation of the French state to uphold the human rights of all individuals, along with the responsibility of local authorities in Northern France to establish structures guaranteeing these rights, is indisputable. These rights encompass such things as access to water, freedom from torture, rights to property, to the right to feed yourself in dignity. Rather than fulfilling their obligations these rights,  the authorities not only neglect to create the necessary structures but also actively implement policies and engage in operations that flagrantly disregard these rights. Our advocacy work aims to shed light on these rights violations and demand their fulfilment. 

The woefully inadequate state mandated water provision is one of the key focuses of the advocacy work we do. We attempt to fill in the gap by filling and maintaining water tanks at the living sites in Calais. In tandem with this, we advocate for the state to fulfil the Europe-wide commitments to ensure access to at least 50 litres of drinking water per day, as well as unconditional, continuous access to water sanitation and hygiene facilities regardless of their legal status. Whilst we remain critical of the efficacy of large intranational and state bodies such as the United Nations and the Défenseur des Droits, we have found it necessary to use these platforms to draw attention to these human rights violations and put pressure on the governing bodies responsible to take action. Our strategy therefore relies on the gathering of data and testimony, in collaboration with other associations in the field to support litigation against the authorities.

In February 2023, CFC was part of a submission to the Défenseur Des Droits in regards to water access for displaced people in Northern France (Calais, Dunkirk & Ouistreham). The DDD will now be conducting research and provide recommendations to the state on their failure to meet human rights requirements on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

We have been publicising our actions and pressuring the local authorities to take responsibility by providing adequate refuse collection, through press communications and open letters to the mayor, Natacha Bouchart. So far, the mobilisation has collected over 2500 bags of rubbish in the past 6 months. However, we remain adamant that this effort would not be necessary if the state installed skips and committed to having them regularly emptied by refuse disposal services.

The right to a clean environment is fundamental to a dignified and healthy existence, the local authorities are capable of fulfilling this but choose not to. In the absence of any bins for the living sites in Calais, we carry out litter picks every months with the support of the displaced people living there, local Calaisians and other associations.

We are not taking on the responsibility of the state but instead see this as an opportunity to create bonds between different people that have a shared goal of a cleaner environment - local residents, environmental groups etc. Through the summer we hope to mobilise all of these groups and create links - becoming a larger presence to demand for the prefecture to take action. You can follow this mobilisation on Instagram at @calaisploubelle.

The racist narrative whereby displaced people are depicted as unsanitary and unable to 'integrate' into 'Western society' is directly fuelled by the state's deliberate withholding of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and refuse collection services. We condemn this performative cruelty, which forces people on the move into undignified, unsanitary conditions and has a direct impact on their physical and mental wellbeing.​ 

This wilful negligence can be understood as part of the state's 'no fixation policy' - where, alongside regular evictions by the police, they refuse to provide essential amenities at living sites. This policy of deterrence seeks to make life in Calais as a displaced person as inhumane as possible in order to discourage people from trying to cross the Channel. Crucially, the provision of even the most basic of services would entail an acknowledgement of their legal presence in Calais, triggering additional legal obligations to ensure a dignified existence for the people living there. The French state's determination to sacrifice the dignity of people living on French soil for the enforcement of this needlessly violent and hostile border regime is something that cannot and will not be excused.

Our most recent collaboration in advocacy work at the border has been to join the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), which comprises various organisations around Europe documenting the illegal pushbacks and border violence suffered by people on the move. We take voluntary testimonies from people we meet in Calais who have been met with this kind of state violence.