Basroch refugee camp

Last updated

Basroch refugee camp was situated in Grande-Synthe, Dunkirk, France. It began as an informal refugee camp in a muddy field in about 2006. [1] As late as summer 2015, it still only contained about 60 residents, but by January 2016, the camp had expanded to more than 2000 people. [2]

The very rapid expansion created a humanitarian crisis, as the site was not at all suitable for the large numbers of people who were living there. The rats, refuse, and disease led to it being referred to as "Europe's worst refugee camp." [3] It was described as "appalling," [4] "gut wrenching", [5] and "deplorable." [6]

The international NGO Médecins Sans Frontières stated:

Hygiene was dire in Basroch camp, and several areas became a muddy quagmire every time it rained. The mayor called it “the camp of shame” and MSF workers described it in interviews as a “gigantic refuse dump” [7]

Aid organisations working at Basroch camp included Emmaüs, Terre d'Errance, Secours catholique et Secours populaire, [8] Aid Box Convey [9] and Edlumino, which provided education to the children of the camp. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Médecins Sans Frontières</span> International humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation

Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a charity that provides humanitarian medical care. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. The organisation provides care for diabetes, drug-resistant infections, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, tropical and neglected diseases, tuberculosis, vaccines and COVID-19. In 2019, the charity was active in 70 countries with over 35,000 personnel; mostly local doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, logistical experts, water and sanitation engineers, and administrators. Private donors provide about 90% of the organisation's funding, while corporate donations provide the rest, giving MSF an annual budget of approximately US$1.63 billion.

Humanitarian aid workers belonging to United Nations organisations, PVOs / NGOs or the Red Cross / Red Crescent are among the list of protected persons under international humanitarian law that grant them immunity from attack by belligerent parties. However, attacks on humanitarian workers have occasionally occurred, and become more frequent since the 1990s and 2000s. In 2017, the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) documented 139 humanitarian workers killed in intentional attacks out of the estimated global population of 569,700 workers. In every year since 2013, more than 100 humanitarian workers were killed. This is attributed to a number of factors, including the increasing number of humanitarian workers deployed, the increasingly unstable environments in which they work, and the erosion of the perception of neutrality and independence. In 2012 road travel was seen to be the most dangerous context, with kidnappings of aid workers quadrupling in the last decade, reaching more aid workers victims than any other form of attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refugee camp</span> Temporary settlement for refugees

A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced people. Usually, refugees seek asylum after they have escaped war in their home countries, but some camps also house environmental and economic migrants. Camps with over a hundred thousand people are common, but as of 2012, the average-sized camp housed around 11,400. They are usually built and run by a government, the United Nations, international organizations, or non-governmental organization. Unofficial refugee camps, such as Idomeni in Greece or the Calais jungle in France, are where refugees are largely left without the support of governments or international organizations.

Raymond Borel is a French doctor, editor of the medical journal TONUS and one of the founders of Médecins Sans Frontières.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dungu, Democratic Republic of the Congo</span> Place in Haut-Uele, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Dungu is a town in Haut-Uele Province located at the confluence of the Dungu and Kibali Rivers where they join to form the Uele River, south of the Garamba National Park. Dungu's terrain is wooded savannah, and its climate is tropical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Médecins du Monde</span> Humanitarian health NGO

Médecins du monde, or Doctors of the World, is an international humanitarian organization which seeks to provide emergency and long-term medical care to the world's most vulnerable people. It also advocates for an end to health inequities.

Idomeni or Eidomeni is a small village in Greece, near the border with North Macedonia. The village is located in the municipality of Paeonia, Kilkis regional unit of Central Macedonia (Greece).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joanne Liu</span> Canadian pediatric emergency medicine physician and professor

Joanne Liu is a Canadian pediatric emergency medicine physician, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Montreal, Professor of Clinical Medicine at McGill University, and the previous International President of Médecins sans Frontières. She was elected president during MSF's International General Assembly in June 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 European migrant crisis</span> 2010s migrant crisis in the European Union

The 2015 European migrant crisis was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe, namely from the Middle East. An estimated 1.3 million people came to the continent to request asylum, the most in a single year since World War II. They were mostly Syrians, but also included a significant number of people from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iraq, Eritrea, and the Balkans. The increase in asylum seekers has been attributed to factors such as the escalation of various wars in the Middle East and ISIL's territorial and military dominance in the region due to the Arab Winter, as well as Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt ceasing to accept Syrian asylum seekers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calais Jungle</span> Evicted migrant camp in France

The Calais Jungle was a refugee and immigrant encampment in the vicinity of Calais, France, that existed from January 2015 to October 2016. There had been other camps known as "jungles" in previous years, but this particular shanty town drew global media attention during the peak of the European migrant crisis in 2015, when its population grew rapidly. Migrants stayed at the camp while they attempted to enter the United Kingdom, or while they waited for their French asylum claims to be processed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Migrants around Calais</span>

Migrants have gathered in and around Calais, on the northern French coast, since at least the late 1990s seeking to enter the United Kingdom from the French port by crossing the Channel Tunnel or stowing away in the cargo area of lorries heading for ferries that cross the English Channel. During this time, informal camps of migrants have formed, the most notorious commonly referred to as the Calais Jungle. Other migrants come to the area because they are homeless while seeking asylum in France. The presence of migrants in and around Calais has affected the British and French governments, the Eurotunnel and P&O Ferries companies, and lorry drivers heading for the UK and their companies. EuroTunnel, the company that operates the Channel Tunnel, said that it intercepted more than 37,000 migrants between January and July 2015.

Edlumino Education Aid is a nonprofit charity working to improve education for disadvantaged and displaced children around the world. It is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) registered with the UK Charity Commission as charity number 1166131. Edlumino is based in Cambridge and the date of registration was 18 March 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proactiva Open Arms</span>

Proactiva Open Arms (POA) is a Spanish NGO devoted to search and rescue (SAR) at sea. Set up in October 2015, it carried out its first rescue action that same month from its base on the Greek island of Lesbos. As well as maintaining a permanent base on Lesbos, the NGO carries out its rescue operations from three ships, a sailing yacht Astral, the Golfo Azzurro and Open Arms.

La Linière refugee camp was situated in Grande-Synthe, Dunkirk, France. It was opened in March 2016 at a cost of around 4 million Euros.

Javid Abdelmoneim is a British-born physician and television presenter. He is best known for his work with Médecins Sans Frontières which has seen him respond to crises in Iraq (2009), Haiti (2010), South Sudan (2014), Sierra Leone (2014), Syria (2017–2018) and also aboard the Aquarius (2016), a search and rescue ship run in partnership between MSF and SOS Mediteranée. Most recently, Abdelmoneim served as a Member of the Board of Trustees (2015–2021) and was also elected the youngest serving president and chair of the Board (2017–2021) for MSF UK.

The Bani Walid detention camp is a secret prison in northwest Libya near the town of Bani Walid operated by human traffickers since at least 2009. Prisoners at the center often come from subsaharan Africa en route to Europe, and include adolescents and women. In order to extort their families, detention guards reportedly torture, rape, or threaten prisoners, who face similar conditions in other camps in the region. In May 2018, many Bani Walid prisoners attempted to escape, with most being shot or recaptured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damien Carême</span> French politician of La France Insoumise (born 1960)

Damien Carême is a French politician of La France Insoumise. He has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019 and was re-elected in 2024.

<i>Geo Barents</i> Rescue ship, built in 2007 as research vessel

Geo Barents is a rescue and salvage ship owned by Uksnøy & Co AS. She is currently chartered by Médecins Sans Frontières for sea-rescue operations of refugees in the Mediterranean since June 2021. Geo Barents is the sixth ship chartered or operated by MSF for humanitarian missions. Geo Barents sails under the Norwegian flag.

Leslie Shanks is a Canadian medical doctor who served as the president of Médecins Sans Frontières Canada, the medical director of MSF Netherlands, and who led humanitarian responses in Yugoslavia, Zaire and Sudan.

Unni Karunakara is an Indian-born public health physician, an academic, and was the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) from 2010 to 2013.

References

  1. "France: Update on relocation of migrant camp in Dunkirk". MSF. Medecins Sans Frontiers. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  2. "Grande-Synthe". MSF. Medecins sans Frontiers. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  3. Alzayani, Razan (18 January 2017). "The Chill sets in at La Liniere, France's First Official Refugee Camp". Refugees Deeply. New Deeply. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  4. Chrisafis, Angelique (28 February 2016). "MSF to open camp for refugees sleeping rough near Dunkirk". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  5. Sire, Adeline (28 January 2016). "This French refugee camp has rats, mud and toilets that are overflowing". PRI. PRI. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  6. Mohammed, Pierre. "Basroch to La Liniere". Pierremohamad.com. Retrieved 27 April 2017.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. "France: Update on relocation of migrant camp in Dunkirk". MSF. Medecins Sans Frontiers. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  8. "France: Update on relocation of migrant camp in Dunkirk". MSF. Medecins Sans Frontiers. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  9. "MSF in Grande-Synthe: lessons from an unlikely coalition of actors". Humanitarian Alternatives. Humanitarian Alternatives. 22 November 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  10. Scott, Natalie (27 April 2016). "Teaching in France's refugee camps". SecEd. Retrieved 27 April 2017.