Bury St Eds WHU

10 DAYS IN FRANCE — MY ASSESSMENT OF LOON-PLAGE After 10 days based close to the Loon-Plage migrant camp, I think I’m reasonably well placed to give my assessment of what is happening here. The first thing that strikes me is simple: The camp is growing. It is spreading further into the surrounding wooded areas, with groups dispersed across multiple locations rather than contained in one obvious camp. The repeated evictions appear almost pointless from what I have witnessed. Areas are cleared, belongings are removed, and within hours people are back and the camp is functioning again. Grande-Synthe has effectively become part of the camp’s daily infrastructure. I regularly see migrants using the local supermarket, toilets, restaurant seating and charging points. There is a near-constant security and police presence around the supermarket. I have personally witnessed people being chased by security and others being escorted out. I have also seen people openly and brazenly buying lifejackets, then walking through the shops and surrounding streets carrying them in full view. There is seemingly no attempt to hide what they are buying or what those lifejackets are intended for. They simply walk around with them as if this is completely normal. Something else that has surprised me is the amount of money I have seen. On numerous occasions I have seen crisp €50 notes, prepaid payment cards and migrants using cash machines. Whatever assumptions people in Britain may have about everyone here being completely penniless simply do not match everything I have witnessed on the ground. I have also seen numerous men with significant facial injuries. I cannot say exactly how every injury occurred, but some appeared consistent with serious violence. Many cover or turn their faces away when they see a camera. Why? That is a question worth asking. There is also an attitude among some of the people I have encountered that I find deeply concerning. I have been ordered around, told where I can and cannot stand and spoken to as though compliance is expected. I have spent years photographing difficult situations and I do not scare easily. Some of what I have experienced here genuinely concerns me. I remain extremely critical of the charity network operating around these camps. In my view, continually providing infrastructure that allows this system to sustain itself deserves far greater scrutiny, particularly when people continue to die attempting Channel crossings. And I still want answers about the new walled-off area being constructed around part of Loon-Plage. What exactly is its purpose, who authorised it and what is the long-term plan? After 10 days, my assessment is this: The camp is expanding. The eviction policy is ineffective. The authorities appear unable to provide a lasting solution. A substantial support network keeps the camp functioning. People are openly purchasing lifejackets and carrying them through local streets in full view. And Loon-Plage remains one of the major staging points for people attempting to enter Britain illegally across the Channel. This is not something I have concluded from behind a desk. I have spent 10 days living beside it, walking through it, filming it and watching how it operates. I’ll keep documenting what I see. Adrian