interview from calais: two homeless refugees explain their situation

2pm, Wednesday 30th August 2009. Parc Saint Pierre, Calais

Benjamin: This is Benjamin, I am from Iran. I just came in Calais, like, three weeks ago. From three weeks ago the police authority and French government I think they decide to destroy the jungle. First they destroy the Pashtun jungle, after that they destroy the Kurdish jungle. All people, they moved to the town from jungle. Now we are in town. And Iranian jungle they destroy as well. Now we are in town and the police disturb us every morning every night.

Ali: Four O'Clock in the morning. And at night, 2 pm.

Interviewer: Where are you sleeping?

Benjamin: In the parks, under the bridge.

Ali: They are all the time taking us in detention for a few hours. They want to make us crazy. What are they doing? We don't know. Nothing.

Benjamin: They just trying to disturb us to leave Calais. And now we start to have a hunger strike to get help from other countries. We ask for other Western countries to come and help us. And we start hunger strike from today 12, at noon. We need help. We need help actually. And we don't want to stay any more in France because of police and because of government. They don't respect anybody. They don't respect anyone in Calais and in Paris it is the same. Our situation is very bad. We have no good food. All the time we are getting is the same food, same as yesterday, usually only bread and bananas. We have nowhere to sleep. We are looking for somewhere safe at least to sleep, to get some respect from people, from government, from policeauthorities. Actually I can tell you about one day, the police come, just like five days ago, they come, they talk with us; they hit a friend of mine next to me, they hit him with a stick into his head, and we have witnesses and evidence of this too. We said stop this, they say they dont care, they will do anything we we want. And they searched our bags and baggage and (interview pauses, as two police vans and more police on foot appear from around the corner, gesturing; Video ends here, as interviewer, friends and migrants are asked for ID and dispersed for being a larger crowd than three people)