OPINION: Lack of safe passage puts lives at most risk

French police are brought to Dunkirk on a three week rotation to limit the chances of them developing any sympathies for the refugees they are evicting”, Lydie, the lead for the association ‘Emmaüs Dunkerque’ explained to us on our visit to northern France.

The UK Government has announced “a new beginning” in relations with the French Government, with the UK agreeing to pay the French £479 million over the next three years to build new joint migrant detention centres, a joint command centre and to fund more French Patrols and Police Officers on the coastline and surrounding areas.

The French and British Jewish community leaders are also coming together, but with a very different focus.

Jewish history has taught us that no one can afford to be a bystander in the face of injustice and human rights abuse. So, in a communal first, The Board of Deputies of British Jews, accompanied by Crif (the representative body of the French Jewish community), recently met and volunteered with NGOs working in the north of France to support refugees.

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These NGOs are not there to fill the gap in the Government’s provision, but are working tirelessly to safeguard human rights in an unjust and harmful system.

We joined the volunteer team led by ‘Emmaüs Dunkerque’, to distribute food in one of the makeshift refugee camps in Dunkerque. In less than an hour, we had served hundreds of meals.

I briefly met a refugee who had arrived two weeks earlier from Iraq.

We stood together in the cold and rain while he charged his phone via the central generator brought in by another NGO for a few hours.

Despite his treacherous journey and appalling living conditions, he continues to risk everything to seek a safer, better life in the UK.

As legal entry routes for refugees are tightened or removed, smugglers become richer, more powerful and more emboldened to facilitate these dangerous journeys.

These NGOs are not there to fill the gap in the Government’s provision, but are working tirelessly to safeguard human rights in an unjust and harmful system.

Our meetings with key stakeholders working on the ground made it absolutely clear that it is the lack of safe passages into the UK which are putting more lives at risk, not the smugglers.

What we learned and witnessed was highly uncomfortable.

It is uncomfortable knowing that there is no end in sight for people needing to seek refuge.

It is uncomfortable knowing that vulnerable people are not being protected, and that people are being viewed as criminals who simply want the chance for a better life for themselves and their families.

The French, Jewish Philosopher Emmanuel Lévinas’ concept of ‘the face-to-face relation’, explains that ethically, people are responsible to one another in the face-to-face encounter.

This couldn’t be more relevant. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye. As Jewish people, we have a commitment to face this issue head on.

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