by Pascal Rossignol
CALAIS, Pas-de-Calais (Reuters) – In a makeshift refugee camp near Calais, Mohamed, a 20-year-old Iraqi Kurd, is busy making a paper boat. A way to kill time by clinging to his dream: to cross the Channel to start a new life in the United Kingdom.
Reflecting Mohamed’s determination, the British government’s agreement with Rwanda to deport asylum seekers to the East African country does not seem to have achieved its objective so far. to discourage crossings between the beaches of northern France and the coasts of south-east England.
While a first flight to Kigali was blocked this week by a decision of the European Court of Human Rights, provoking the fury of London, refugees met in recent days by Reuters assure that nothing will deter them from to travel to the UK.
“I heard that they want to send people back to Africa, to Rwanda. But I don’t care,” said Ahmed, who says he fled Sudan four years ago to avoid enlisting in the IDF. army, and arrived seven months ago in Calais after crossing Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Spain and France.
“I don’t want to worry about that. One day I’ll go to England. If after that they send me to Rwanda, I’ll see another place. Maybe I’ll go back to Sudan, I don’t I don’t know. I’ve done the impossible to get here. What more can I do?”
TEACHING REFUGEES THEIR RIGHTS
Member of the Care4Calais association, Claire Moseley considers it inhuman to want to send back to Africa refugees who have endured the worst suffering to arrive in Europe.
“It’s a situation that we are very concerned about, the (UK government’s) plan is very brutal. After everything they’ve been through to get here, to find safety, the last thing they want is to be sent back. in Africa,” she said.
With other volunteers, Claire Moseley is now working to explain to candidates for the crossing how to defend themselves if they are arrested when arriving on British soil.
“We explain to them what their rights are in a detention center, how to contact lawyers… When someone arrives in a foreign country, they don’t speak the language, how could they know who to call, how to be helped?” she asks.
Tamim Omerzai, a 24-year-old Afghan, admits to being afraid of what awaits him, but more during the crossing than after reaching the British coast.
When asked if he fears being deported to Rwanda, he shrugs his shoulders, he who fled the Taliban regime to join his wife and uncle, refugees in England, where he hopes to resume his business studies.
“I don’t know if they are going to save me or send me to another country. But I want to go there, I want to find my wife,” he said in a soft voice.
(Report by Pascal Rossignol, written by Tangi Salaün)