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Eyewitness: First intake of Calais Jungle children at Lunar House


Judy Masters from the parish of Holy Apostles, Pimlico,central London, writes:

It was my privilege to work with Citizen's UK last week, when the first group of children from the Calais 'Jungle' arrived at the Home Office in Croydon. I assisted three days inside Lunar House and one day outside as part of a 100+ crowd of 'Welcomers.'

Volunteer staff from Citizens UK assisted the Home Office processing by accompanying the children, attending interviews with them (as the 'appropriate adult') making sure they saw medical staff and were alert to their turn in the intake process. It was both joyful and tragic experience.

Probably the most important function we had was helping the children feel safe and relax a little. In so many ways they were like any other teens -- concerned about charging their mobiles, asking to watch football or Strictly Come Dancing. The tangible difference was the weight of their individual and collective stories that hung in the air.

One child might be laughing with friends and then suddenly jump, flinch back as an adult male expectantly came up beside them. Another might be enjoying some of the snacks and suddenly make a dash for the toilet as their stomach reacted to food. Others clung to cousin, brother or best friend. Some volunteered their stories, but we didn't ask them. There would be time to heal soon enough, now was the time to celebrate and learn what was needed for their new life.

One teen introduced their close friend: "We just met today and will share this day forever. We are now free." Another started telling the story of how they were put on a different boat from their parents and siblings, and for the last year had heard nothing about them. Luckily they had a relative in the UK. This child was now just 13 years old. Yet another teen wanted to be with English speakers because their desire was to be "this country".

The vast majority of the arrivals couldn't speak English or had just a very limited understanding and vocabulary. Thankfully Lunar House had interpreters for the interviews but this also created long waits as interpreters were shared. Thank goodness we had some volunteers who could help language wise in the waiting areas. There were children who could speak some English, eager to assist.

We played games like Snap, dominoes, Score 4 and did magic tricks with cards. Some children coloured, drew pictures or shared charging cables. When the sound would rise to a cacophony level, it brought joy to my heart! The kids were playing. There was happiness. Pain forgotten for the moment. Thank you Lord! I wished I could broadcast the scene I was experiencing to the world, because they would see and feel these are children, victims of war not adults disguised as teens and not terrorists. Just kids.

The Red Cross also started volunteering with Citizens UK and they were stellar! They assisted social services in children transport and started to relieve CUK volunteers when it got quite late. We started at approximately 11am and my finish times were: 7.15pm, 12.45am, and 9pm. On my latest night the Red Cross took over and stayed until 5am. There were so many things that delayed the processing. My observation was each child took approximately 5-6 hours from fingerprinting to leaving for their destination, if there were no complications.

The staff at Lunar House is to be commended for their overwhelming support and compassion for children they were processing. Several said it was unfortunate that this intake was happening at the last minute. There was ample hospitality, kindness, food, juice and snacks. There were extra medical volunteers. Doctors and nurses treated multiple infections, widespread stomach ailments and a variety of other untreated ailments. I had not expected the Home Office to be so sensitive to the emotional trauma and needs of the children. I saw another face to the government, a face you often see in the older WWII films--the British face of compassion and protection. Again, thank you Lord!

There are still hundreds of minors left in The Jungle. If you feel you might want to help foster some of the remaining children, short term or long, contact your council for further details.

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