The Unpopular Containers

On Tuesday I had a walk around camp and got up close to the newly renovated shipping containers - well as close as I could from the other side of the fence that surrounds them.

The secure area where they have been installed is reminiscent of a communist designed city - identical block after identical block for as far as the eye can see. The bright white that they have been painted gives the compound an extremely sterile feel.

A very smal number of refugees have opted to move into the containers and the vast majority sit empty. Most of the refigees are suspicious of the containers because those who live there are obliged to sign in using a biometric palm print. This is a huge problem because if they have made it to Calais without having their fingerprints taken in another EU country, they still have a chance to make a successful asylum claim to the UK - if they ever get there.

Under current EU asylum policy as dictated by the agreement known as Dublin 2, any 'irregular migrant' must be fingerprinted in the first country that 'catches them.' If they later make an asylum claim in another EU memeber state the claim will be bounced back to the country where they were fingerprinted because that is classed as their first country of entrance and under Dublin 2 their asylum claim must beprocessed by the first country of entrance.

For the refugees in Calais who have avoided being fingerprinted and are hoping to make asylum claims in the UK, the prospect of having to use any part of their hand to sign into their accommodation is therefore understandably very worrying. Many of them do not trust the assurances they have been given that their fingerprints will not be taken at the same time as their palm print is taken. And who can blame them? After all, they have not been given any assurances that the palm print system will not be changed in the future once they are living in the containers.

Some refugees have expressed their opinions with spray paint.