Tribune. On November 24, 27 women, men and children trying to reach the United Kingdom from Calais (Pas-de-Calais) drowned in the English Channel. This drama, at a sad record since 2018, is an additional blow to our common humanity. No country can solve this global and complex issue on its own. But, right now, as we need states to work together, it seems the doors are closing.
Because no one wants to see another tragedy unfold in the English Channel, the French and British governments must work together and maintain search and rescue operations at sea to save lives.
The French and British Red Crosses, founding members of the largest global humanitarian movement, share the conviction that a response based on solidarity and shared responsibility for hospitality is the only desirable horizon. Everyone must do their part. Therefore, we do our duty to help those who risk everything for another destiny, and this unconditionally. Every day, our volunteers and employees, for years, have come to the aid of people in exile on the Franco-British border alongside many other associations and residents whose will never falters.
Dehumanization process
Our humanitarian space must be preserved to allow us to intervene in the service of the travelers of this terrible odyssey, who, after having often fled the worst at home, follow a road paved with dangers and insecurity. Those who borrow it find it difficult to meet their basic needs: access to hygiene, drinking water, health care… Their journey is marked by smugglers and traffickers whose misery is the bottom line. Above all, their journey into exile very often presents itself as a process of dehumanization, which destroys their life in its biographical dimension. To be alive without feeling alive.
Others perish on this journey. Also, on the coast, on both sides of the Channel, the teams to restore family links participate in the identification of remains, accompany the families of deceased persons, alongside the authorities, and allow the living to maintain contact with their families. relatives. We are working to set up suitable reception points to respond to the humanitarian emergency, provide access to first aid, information, and child protection systems. Our cooperation has only one goal: whoever they are, wherever they leave and wherever they go, mutual aid must be present at every stage of the path of the exiles.
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