[Statement from people in Calais, translated]

There is a big protest happening here at the Salam distribution centre in the jungle and the government have cut the satellite signal so there can be no broadcast.

People are blockading the government distribution centre because they no longer want to live in worse conditions than those they left behind. It’s not enough to receive 1 badly cooked meal per day. People seeking asylum in France are being given nothing and forced to live in the jungle. People have a right to dignity and many people are badly injured and left with no medical provisions to die in the jungle. La vie active who run the Salam centre profit from justifying people’s prolonged stay in the jungle. Today the demonstration will continue at the gates of the centre and everyone informed why and asked not to go inside. If people want to go in they can and will not be subject to abuse. It is not good enough that racism exists in the camp and today we are one voice, one hand to stop the injustice of this border.

People of the jungle are not treated as human beings but numbers in system. We are not allowed the right to protest in the town but hidden away, they try to silence us. We will not accept this system and we will provide our  own solution. The European governments made this problem and it is their responsibility to solve it in a way that gives us a better life. We did not risk our lives to suffer this inhumanity. We must stand together, this protest is the start and we will continue until our situation is resolved. We want to remain peaceful even when the police use violence against us.