To help you better understand the issues surrounding the Franco-British border and the political mechanisms that have operated there over the last 30 years, we have put together a number of resources.
Whether reports, documentaries, books or articles, each has been selected because it addresses one or more key aspects of what is happening in what could be defined as a "lawless zone", not in the sense used by the institutions, but in the sense that people in transit through this zone are denied access to virtually all their fundamental rights.
Reports
For years, researchers, organisations and associations have been carrying out studies on the Franco-British border, and here we have selected those that we felt were the most relevant.
These four reports provide an overview of the living conditions of people in exile between Calais and Dunkirk, from the evolution of policies to the testimonies of people stranded on the coast, the degrading treatment inflicted on them and the lack of access to fundamental rights.
Rapport de 2021 mandaté par la PSM – Pierre Bonnevalle
Rapport de 2021 mandaté par la PSM – Marta Lotto
Rapport de 2021 – Human Rights Watch
Watch
Nearly twenty years after the death of her brother on the refugee route to Europe, Daba follows in his footsteps as a new conflict brews in Sudan.
Regarde Ailleurs denounces what is happening in many European cities, using Calais as an example. By highlighting the discrepancy between the situation on the ground and the official discourse, this film shows us the strategy being put in place to dissuade exiles from staying.
The last crossing revient sur les conditions de vie sur le littoral, le harcèlement quotidien et la détresse qui pousse les personnes bloquées à la frontière à prendre toujours plus de risques pour rejoindre le Royaume-Uni.
À écouter
À Lire
« On ne peut pas accueillir toute la misère du monde » Ten words that fall like a knife, and which have become the unsurpassable horizon of any "reasonable" debate on migration. How should we respond to them? That's the question addressed in this incisive essay.
Plein droit N° 129, juin 2021 – Grand Format
Retour à Calais
Places where those who insist on showing solidarity try to find the best way to help people "who tomorrow will no longer be here": minors, people with mental health problems... While other exiles try, with incredible courage, to organise themselves. And to get through, anyway.
LES MIGRANTS DE CALAIS
Enquête sur la vie en transit
Indissociably a sociological and philosophical investigation, this book explores the condition of migrants, firstly through their point of view, and then through an analysis of the vocabulary in which they are enclosed, viewed and through which they tell their stories.
La Battue
L’Etat, la police et les étrangers
In this book, halfway between an investigation and an essay, Louis Witter shows how local politics, the law, institutional policies and police practices work together to legitimise ever more violence against foreigners.
Hunts for fugitive slaves, redskins and blackskins; hunts for the poor, exiles, stateless people, Jews and undocumented immigrants: the history of manhunts is a key to understanding the long history of the violence of the dominant classes.
Websites to help you go even further
La Plateforme des Soutiens aux Migrant.e.s (PSM) works with a network of 30 associations operating on the Franco-British border in northern France.
« Passeurs d’hospitalités » is a blog that informs, invites reflection, promotes understanding and raises awareness of the situation of exiles in Calais. We also provide documents and links to help you broaden and deepen your knowledge.
Le blog de Calais Migrant Solidarity is run by a group of independent activists. It features a wide range of articles on different aspects of the border struggle.
Alarm Phone is an international collective operating on different continents. It is an emergency number for people in distress at sea, particularly in the English Channel. On their website, you can find in-depth articles on the subject of rescues and border policies.