Back in AUG 2015 we reported a story about refugees in a squalid camp called the Jungle in Calais, France. We also mentioned and pictured a small church erected and used by refugee Christians from Africa. Last OCT another Christian makeshift church was erected serving mostly Middle Eastern Christians. Last Monday the local French authorities bulldozed that church and also a mosque. The local Prefect has stipulated a 100 meter buffer zone between the camp and a nearby highway. That meant that the two religious structures had to be removed, as they were within the buffer zone that was ordered to be cleared.
It is also being reported that there is considerable clash between various adherents of the two faiths within the camp. There are also issues between Muslims of different nationalities represented in the camps. But much of what is occurring can also be attributed to folks who are crammed into a small area, with little food in the freezing dead of winter and too much time on their hands as they sit hoping for permission to join relatives who are already established in the UK.
The main image and the story are originally from the Church Times.
The image of the African refugee church is from Rob Stothard/Getty Images via the Guardian.