This afternoon I went out on a distribution which we did along the dirt road that forms the rear boundary of the Jungle. This is a spot that we often distribute in, and it is usually calm and peaceful.
Our distributions are done from the back of our vans so the usual procedure is to park, get into position, manage the formation of a queue and distribute items to those refugees in the queue until we have distributed everything that we came out with.
This afternoon we were distributing trousers. The queue was unusally long and the refugees were unusually lively for the location. There were several attempts at queue jumping and large groups forming around the sides of the van. However, we were managing the situation and distributing trousers.
But halfway through, a CRS van pulled up alongside us and an officer jumped out telling us that we couldn't distribute on the road becaue we were blocking it. As our team leader was in a conversation with the officer, a crowd of refugees closed in to see what was happening. The situation became mildly hazardous so we called time on the distribution meaning that members of staff in the van got out, the an was locked and the team moved away from the van.
As we moved away, a group of refugees mobbed the van attempting to get in through the side door. Our policy in this situation is to ensure theat the van is locked and move away until the situation de-escalates naturally and this is what we did. As soon as we moved away from the van, two CRS officers charged at the refugees brandisihing tear gas guns. Our team leader interevned and attempted to persuede the CRS not to tear gas the refugees. We thought he had been successful and when the crowd had dispersed the team got in the van to leave camp. After a few seconds the team members in the back of the van were coughing and spluttering and it bacame apparent that tear gas had been dispensed into our van.
The van was evacuated and the team walked to the end of the back road to meet our second vehicle which was to take them back to the warehouse.
These are the CRS officers that were present for the sabotage of our distribution. The officer on the left is holding a tear gas canister - the white aerosol - which contains six rounds of tear gas. The officer on the right is holding a tear gas gun for firing tear gas at the refugees. He is also wearing what looks like a bullet proof vest but is, in fact, a vest full of tear gas cannisters. Every pocket contains a cannister.
This is how the British and French are dealing with the refugees in Calais.