Zia, 10, dreams of a life in London — but as bulldozers close in on Jungle camp, his future looks uncertain

Hundreds of lone migrant children are stuck in the ‘Jungle’ settlement in Calais. With much of the camp facing demolition,  David Churchill spoke to some about their hopes of reaching relatives in the UK
One of many: Zia Urrehman
David Churchill
David Churchill23 February 2016

“If they demolish the Jungle, I think I will have to find another Jungle, or start my own,” says 10-year-old Zia Urrehman, one of the Calais camp’s youngest known lone children.

He is one of about 300 to 400 youngsters with no family who charities say will be affected by plans to flatten the southern part of the camp tomorrow.

Today, a French judge is due to decide whether the demolition at the camp should go ahead. Zia, who has called it home for three months, tells how the Taliban executed his father before he fled Afghanistan with his uncle.

Speaking through an interpreter who acts as his guardian, he says he and his uncle were separated as police stormed a migrant hideout in Calais port, where the pair were waiting in the hope of hiding on a cross-Channel ferry.

Zia was caught but his uncle gave police the slip and has contacted him from the UK. His mother and younger brother are still in Afghanistan. Zia said: “I miss my family. I pray for them and hope to see them again one day.

“But I just want to go to London where I have family. I want to be a teacher and help people. If I get a bit of luck, maybe I can find this dream.”

He is not the only lone child who has risked their life trying to get to the UK. Mohammed Ahmed, 16, has been in the camp five months after fleeing Syria.

He told how he paid human traffickers $1,300 in Turkey to cross over to Greece. Like so many other youngsters in the camp, he has tried to reach the UK several times and claims he should be allowed in as he has relatives here.

Under threat: Migrants walk in the mud in the southern part of the Jungle camp
Reuters

He said: “It was a very hard journey to Europe. We were almost five hours in the sea and we thought we were going to die. Forty-five people were in the boat, which was like a dinghy.

“I just want to get to the UK and study. I’m very scared of the eviction because if they do that then we feel we will have nowhere to live and nowhere to go.”

Mohammed’s case is one of 50 “live” ones being processed with the help of Citizens UK. The charity campaigns for better legal access for lone minors to exercise what they claim is their right, under European law, to move to the UK if they have family members here. Zia and Mohammed told their stories as solicitors from London firms Bhatt Murphy and the Islington Law Centre visited to work on the ongoing cases. Since January, four applications have succeeded.

Iona Lawrence, 27, a Citizens UK outreach worker, said: “We are trying to prove that it’s possible for [the children] to exercise their rights and go to the UK if they have family there. We are committed to finding safe and legal passageways so people can move safely and not have to put their lives in danger.

“We have proved it’s possible for lone minors living in this squalor, but we need the British Government to step up and be more proactive because it’s not just a legal obligation, but a moral one. Four successful cases since January is unacceptable and not enough.”

The process is often slowed because lone minors often do not have any identity documents and obtaining new ones from the Syrian government and others can take months or never happen. Citizens UK says more DNA testing, which can show a child is telling the truth about their age and relatives, should be facilitated to speed up the process.

It also says the EU needs to “provide more systematic information” on rights for asylum seekers and the UNHCR, which is “doing little” and only “monitoring the situation occasionally”, also needs to do more.

Ms Lawrence said aid workers are expecting a “violent” clash if the judge approves the demolition of two thirds of the camp, which will affect up to 3,000 people. She said: “The pressure this is putting on people is a lot. People already take unimaginable risks and, if you add a demolition to the pot, the pressure increases people’s need to get to the UK and puts more young children’s lives at risk.”

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