Refugee Rights Europe

2021

Abstract: The summer of 2021 marks five years since the peak of the so-called Calais ‘Jungle’ camp, which first emerged in 2015, with its population reaching approximately 10,000 residents in the summer of 2016. This report provides an overview of the political background which led to the build-up of a bottleneck in northern France and the emergence of the Calais ‘Jungle’ camp. The report illustrates what the camp was like, and how and why the camp was eventually flattened to the ground. We then summarise key trends which unfolded in the area in the years of the camp’s aftermath, as well as addressing the questions of why the situation has not yet been resolved and why the human suffering in the area persists. We close off the report with a chapter discussing what needs to happen next and provide our concluding remarks.