A collection of five volunteers from the Ross-on-Wye community interest group, Ross for Refugees, have recently returned from another trip to an encampment in Northern France.

The group visited the Grande Synthe refugee camp, located on the outskirts of Dunkirk, for three days, to try to deliver as much aid as possible, and to help with whatever was needed of them; such as constructing tents and shelters, and clearing away rubbish.

Ruth Worgan, a founder of the Ross for Refugees group, along with one of the volunteers who also made the trip to Grande Synthe, visited the Gazette office, to talk about their most recent trip to a refugee camp. Ruth explained that she, and the group have been concerned that as time has gone on, the refugee crisis may fade form people’s minds as it is no longer featured in National News as frequently. She added she was pleased that the Gazette still reports on the group’s ongoing work.

Ruth said that unlike the refugee camp in Calais, Grande Synthe does not have a very effective infrastructure in place; there is no warehouse to which donations can be taken to and sorted, and at present, there are no permanent shelters.

Ruth told the Ross Gazette: “In Calais, there were more permanent shelters, there were makeshift shops and churches, but there wasn’t anything like that in Dunkirk. Everyone was in tents, the conditions were terrible.”

The camp has been nicknamed ‘The forgotten refugee camp,’ as the population has rapidly grown since June, it has expanded from 150 refugees to 1500, but the aid has not followed; Ruth explained that the media coverage tends to centre around ‘the Jungle’ in Calais, so not as many people are aware about the situation on the outskirts of Dunkirk.

Ruth explained that the shelters the refugees are living in, are donated, second hand tents, that are quite flimsy, and there is mud everywhere.

The majority of the population in the camp are young men, but there are some elderly people, women and children. The majority of the population are Kurdish; Kurds are members of an ethnic group, who come from a mountainous region straddling the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Armenia. Ruth explained that a lot of these refugees had come to the camp in Dunkirk to be with other Kurdish people, as they may have culturally clashed with refugees from other ethnic groups in other camps, such as Calais.

There was also an encampment of a Sudanese group, and a small camp of men from Vietnam. The volunteer from the group who came into talk, but who does not wish to be named, explained that they wanted to especially help children in the camp, and focus on their emotional health; she explained that as the children had been through a traumatic time since leaving their home, she had made up a few packs with crayons, pads, and some small toys. She explained that children often process trauma through play, and she wanted to bring a little bit of joy to them.

The ladies told the Gazette that they saw two very young babies, both only a couple of weeks old during the trip.

Ruth explained that up until recently, permanent shelters were not allowed to be built, but the local authority have finally given permission for this to happen, and two of the builders who accompanied the Ross for Refugees group on their trip, plan to return in the next few weeks to assist with the construction of more permanent shelters.

At the Ross Christmas Fayre, the Ross for Refugees group held a bake sale, and raised £460, which will go towards various projects, such as funding the more permanent shelters in the Grande Synthe camp, and funding future trips.

Ruth told the Gazette:?“It really is heartening how the people of Ross have come forward with things and money, and so far we have raised approximately £2000 in total. People have been very kind.”

Some more members of the group are planning a 24 hour trip to the refugee camp in Calais this weekend, Hannah Lerego will take her small team on Saturday, December 12th, and return on Sunday.

They will be delivering goods, such as clothes, boots, blankets and tents to a warehouse for distribution and they will also be helping with any building projects they can. If you have any items you would like to donate, please contact Hannah Lerego by calling 01989 762164.

Hannah told the Gazette,?“What I saw on my last visit (to Calais) has stuck in my mind, especially the children, and I knew I would go back, but I am prepared that now the situation will be far worse because of the weather.”