Jungle Books under threat of eviction in Calais

Jungle Books, a library for migrants set up in the French port city of Calais, is at risk of eviction after half of the camp has been threatened with demolition.

The library was set up to offer "real, practical help” to thousands of migrants in Calais' refugee camp, nicknamed The Jungle, so that they could learn to read and write English, apply for jobs and fill-in forms. 

However migrants have been told they have to move their makeshift homes to the southern half of the camp - or else face the bulldozers, since the government wants to reduce migrant numbers to 2,000.

The library initiative, launched by British volunteer and teacher Mary Jones in August last year, saw “through the roof” support from the book trade, packing the library with “books from floor to ceiling”. 

The level of support was such that what began as a library and school has since expanded to offer supplies to help “make lives easier”, becoming a "registered association” (a French not-for profit organisation) at the end of last year.

Money raised by a crowd funding campaign in September was allocated to buy electricity generators, cooking kits, groundsheets and second-hand clothing, as well as laptops to help migrants keep in touch with family. It also intended to run discussion groups to help different nationalities to to live better together.

The local government has said the proposed demolition will affect between 800 and 1,000 residents. However, the camp's population is disputed, with Calais officials believing it to be 3,700 in contrast to findings from a census by Help Refugees estimating it to be closer to 5,497 - of which 300 are "unaccompanied children".

A court challenge has been brought in Lille by charities in opposition to the action, in particular out of concern for moving children in the mid–winter. The judicial bid, due to conclude tomorrow (25th February), is lead by lawyer Julie Bonnier on behalf of rights organisations and 250 migrants. 

While the French court deliberates, Belgium announced yesterday (23rd February) it will deploy up to 290 police officers along its borders with France for fears of a resulting influx of migrants.

Simon Key at The Big Green Bookshop, an active fundraiser and supporter for Jungle Books since its creation, called Jones an "extraordinary woman" and "far more than someone who just looks after libraries". He said: "She is the go-to person, someone that people rely on."

He said of Jungle Books: "Like any library, it's the central hub for any community. It cements the fact it is a community and not just what people perceive as, you know, 'this bunch of ruddy immigrants getting in the way of everything'. These are people who are desperate to get on with their lives and they find themselves in this impossible situation, just trying to make the best of it."

Jungle Books is located in the part of the camp which is being threatened with eviction, Key confirmed to The Bookseller. He visited the camp last November, where he observed the police being "very heavy handed" with residents there.

"When we went, we couldn't get in with the van because the police were bulldozing 300 tents and they were shooting tear gas at some of the people who were living there. We had to park the van somewhere else. We walked in, and they essentially raised to the ground 300 tents and all the possessions that were in those tents as well. 

"Obviously it's a massively difficult situation. You witness it and think 'that's horrible' and perhaps you don't get the whole story... But from what we saw, they were massively heavy-handed."

He added: "A lot of the press focuses on the troubles that are happening, all the migrants and refugees jumping in vans trying to get over, but there are loads of volunteers doing amazing things and the majority of migrants genuinely have no choice."

Last week Canongate c.e.o. Jamie Byng and authors Jeanette Winterson, Ian McEwan, Philip Pullman, Nick Hornby, Michael Morpurgo and Yann Martel, as well as actors Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch and Idris Elba, were among the signatories to an open letter to David Cameron calling for “urgent action” to help children in the migrant camp at Calais.

The 9,000 signatories urge the Prime Minister to step in and allow unaccompanied children living in the so-called "Calais Jungle" to be reunited with their families in the UK.