Inside French migrant camp filled with men wanting to come to UK
Aid workers have spoken of the harrowing conditions inside a makeshift migrant camp in Northern France where people are surviving on just one meal a day and diseases are spreading. The makeshift camp near Dunkirk emerged after the Calais 'Jungle' – which housed up to 10,000 migrants – was dismantled in 2016. Smaller settlements sprang up across the region, and Loon-Plage became one of the largest.
TL;DR
- A makeshift migrant camp near Dunkirk, France, faces harrowing conditions with people receiving only one meal a day.
- Diseases are spreading due to poor sanitation and overcrowding, with cases of diphtheria previously causing temporary suspension of evictions.
- The camp emerged after the dismantling of the Calais 'Jungle' in 2016, and authorities regularly confiscate migrants' belongings.
- Medical charities report treating patients for respiratory problems, scabies, and infected wounds, noting the situation is worse than during the 'Jungle' era.
- The number of women in the Dunkirk area has doubled, with nearly half seeking help for rape, and they face significant dangers attempting to cross the English Channel.
- Smugglers extort migrants, promising a better life, and many are lured into dangerous Channel crossings with little safety equipment.
- A total of 162 people have died in the Channel between 2018 and 2025, according to data from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.