This reportage is about an area of Calais (at the northern border of France with England), which has become one of the largest refugee camps in northern Europe.
ED. Note :Recently the french government decided to take down this area. For days the police had to work hard to destroy all the illegal installations and settlements and now the question is what’s next for those that moved here, hoping to cross with ships the channel and arriving in UK. This reportage was documenting what happened before this action in Calais. You can also check our PDF Issue 9 with a reportage taken in 2011 by Tommaso Protti documenting this area.
Here migrants have built a small “city” in the mud waiting to cross illegally those 43 miles that separate them from England. Some want to reunite with what is left of their families; some have simply lost everything and want to rebuild their lives away from wars that they do not feel theirs; others simply dream of a better world and think they might find it there. Everyone has a different reason, but they have in common a desperate search for peace. In the Jungle of Calais you will find families, children, and, for the most part, youths of 20-30 years of age that have survived grueling travels. Despite the brutal conditions these migrants find themselves in, hope and desire to succeed are still in their eyes and in their stories.
The days in the Jungle start around 10:30 in the morning (at night, they try to cross the border illegally) and proceed between a game of football, a chat in front of the fire, a hot cup of tea in a house built with scraps found here and there, or a course of theater, French, or English with the volunteers at the school. But for days now the evacuation has begun, and the situation has changed: families are scared, youths watch their “homes” being destroyed by bulldozers, children no longer go to school for fear of the police. Some just move their belongings as far as possible at the periphery of the camps to gain time to get organi- zed before it is their turn to be evacuated. And we can only watch, hoping that one day things will change for the better, that one day these people will find peace and a normal life.
About the author:
Ludovica Anzaldi was born in Rome in 1992. She lives and works in Paris as freelance photographer. She Graduate at Speos Photography School. She has been published by la-couture.com, Vita magazine, PhotoVogue, Avvenire and Il Manifesto.
Check also her work on : ludovicanzaldi.tumblr.com
