La jungle de Calais

Makeshift camp methodologies along the Balkan Route

“…Makeshift camps, despite often being described by scholars as spaces of freedom and resistance, are also extremely dangerous spaces for the most vulnerable groups, including the numerous unaccompanied minors we encountered on our visits. Having said that, the social formations emerging in the makeshift camps are essential for the refugees' survival and informal mobility, something confirmed by many everyday practices in these camps that show a degree of normality, revealing an extraordinary resilience in extremely difficult circumstances (see, among others, Agier, 2018;Hicks & Mallet, 2019;Katz, 2017). However, despite these manifestations of ordinary life, the refugees' vulnerability is fully "inhabited," all is moving around them, everything is temporary, while at the same time real and essential.…”

“…The sense of "being out of place" associated with the feeling of penetrating that liminal space, a sort of no man's land where the rule of law was implemented only occasionally and strategically by the authorities, was accompanied by concerns about the possibility of our presence affecting the how these spaces were monitored or even demolished by the authorities (as in the case of the "Barracks" in Belgrade, dismantled a few months after becoming an established destination for "refugee tours"). While we were fully aware of some informal camps having become overvisited by journalists, photographers, or even adventure tourists, as well as the negative reactions of residents' to these invasive and voyeuristic practices (see Agier, 2018), we never experienced this during our fieldwork. On the contrary, normally some individual refugees approached us and were very keen to tell us about their life back home, their journeys, and especially their failed attempts to cross the border.…”

“…Work on other makeshift camps has shown that the internal politics of more "established" informal settlements -like the ones in Calais or Idomeni -can be studied by scholars spending a significant amount of time in these camps often operating as volunteers. However, as discussed in the relevant literature (see, for instance, Agier, 2018;Sandri, 2018), the position and the actions of volunteers are also politically charged, and normally influenced by their own prior understanding of refugee politics and by the organisations they are affiliated with.…”

Tactiques du franchissement des frontières : contournements et résistances face aux contrôles à Calais

“…C'est le cas par exemple des foyers gérés par les thiamen ouest-africains au Maroc : le terme désigne des « tuteurs-logeurs » qui jouent un rôle central dans l'organisation des convois de passage irrégulier (Pian, 2008). Sur le littoral nord de la France, les différents campements existants ont des fonctionnements divers selon leur taille ou leur composition (Agier et al, 2018). Certains sont contrôlés par des passeurs, prestataires de services ou opportunistes qui monnayent l'accès à un lieu propice au passage ; mais ce sont aussi des espaces d'attente et de sociabilités, dans lesquels peuvent se former des ressources pour le passage « autonome », c'est-à-dire sans avoir recours à des prestations payantes, soit par l'échange d'informations, de services, ou par l'organisation d'actions collectives.…”

Politiques de l’urgence et bricolages humanitaires. Genèse des « centres d’accueil et d’orientation » dans la crise calaisienne

“…La maire de Calais (e lue Les Re publicains) s'oppose fermement a2 tout projet d'he bergement sur le territoire de sa commune. Le regroupement informel, de signe comme « campement de la Lande », est alors installe par les migrants eux-meF mes, avec l'aide de be ne voles, d'associations et d'organisations humanitaires, prenant la forme non pas d'un centre d'he bergement mais d'un bidonville, singulier par sa taille (plusieurs milliers de personnes de2 s l'e te 2015, et jusqu'a2 10 000 a2 l'e te 2016) et par l'ampleur de la me diatisation dont il a fait l'objet (Agier et al, 2018).…”