Dreams of Britain warm migrants against harsh French winter

HOPE AND A PRAYER A migrant (left) prays while others roam inside a warehouse in Marck, northern France, on Jan. 24. —PHOTOS BY AFP

CALAIS, FRANCE—Wearing only a light jacket and woolly hat against the winter cold, 28-year-old Ali Ibrahim said conditions were dire at the improvised camp for migrants in northern France where he sleeps.

“Sometimes it’s really tough,” the Sudanese said outside the abandoned warehouse where he has lived for six months waiting for a chance to cross the Channel to Britain.

“Some people don’t have a blanket or anything to keep warm—even a coat,” he said.

Dozens of tents are crammed in the warehouse’s gloomy interior on the outskirts of the port city of Calais. Authorities say about 400 of the 750 people around the city waiting to cross to Britain live there.

ON THE HOUSE A waiter serves tea to a Syrian migrant at a hotel in Calais, northern France on January 23, 2025. In the industrial zone of Calais, hundreds of migrants are living in a hangar, protected from the rain but exposed to the cold, wind and humidity. Faced with an emergency response from the authorities deemed insufficient, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been housing migrants in a hotel since the start of winter.

Cold, humid gusts blow through cracks in the wall, while bags of rubbish pile up outside. Drenched clothes hang on a barbed wire fence nearby.

Hasan Abdullah, a fellow Sudanese, said his setup inside the warehouse was not ideal, but it was better than sleeping rough.

“I wrap myself in several blankets—three or four—then I cover my tent in plastic and it’s fine,” said the 21-year-old.

The state has set up other warehouse shelters with heating, beds and sleeping bags for up to 500 migrants when the weather is too cold, according to local official Agathe Cury.

OUT IN THE COLD A migrant leaves an abandoned warehouse, where some migrants are taking shelter during the winter months, in Marck, near Calais, northern France on January 24, 2025.

‘Outside for four days’

But they have only been open for 15 nights in total since Dec. 1.

And while migrants can also sleep in assigned shelters for asylum seekers that are open all year round, many say they prefer to sleep close to potential departure points to make the illegal Channel crossing.

This photograph shows clothes hanging on a fence with barbed wire near an abandoned warehouse, where some migrants are taking shelter during the winter months, in Marck, near Calais, northern France on January 24, 2025.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Tuesday said official measures to shelter migrants from the cold were “insufficient,” and urged the provision of permanent shelters “at least until the end of winter.”

To help, the nongovernmental organization rented 10 hotel rooms in Calais from early December to the end of March.

MSF says the rooms shelter 29 people—including families, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors.

Tents of migrants are seen set inside an abandoned warehouse, where some migrants are taking shelter during the winter months, in Marck, near Calais, northern France on January 24, 2025.

Thirteen-year-old Najma from Somalia has been sleeping there with her family.

“I slept outside for four days,” she told AFP, sitting on a sofa in a communal living room.

“It was very cold, and the place we were sleeping was not clean,” the teenager said, adding there was no “food, water, or tea.”

A migrant prays inside an abandoned warehouse, where some migrants are taking shelter during the winter months, in Marck, near Calais, northern France on January 24, 2025. In the industrial zone of Calais, hundreds of migrants are living in a hangar, protected from the rain but exposed to the cold, wind and humidity. Faced with an emergency response from the authorities deemed insufficient, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been housing migrants in a hotel since the start of winter.

But here “it’s much cleaner … you have everything, and it’s not cold. It’s very nice.”

Mohammad, a 44-year-old from Syria, said he and his daughter caught influenza sleeping outside before finding refuge at the hotel.

“January has been particularly cold,” he said, preferring not to give his second name.

Sudanese migrant Abdoulrahman, a brushes his teeth in front of an abandoned warehouse, where some migrants are taking shelter during the winter months, in Marck, near Calais, northern France on January 24, 2025.

‘Need to go to London’

MSF coordinator Feyrouz Lajili said migrants in Calais were “surviving in shameful, inhumane conditions.”

The state plan for shelter during extreme cold “was not activated in December, despite the very low, even negative temperatures,” she said.

But authorities say they do not want to encourage migrants to settle along the coast.

Cury, the local official, said it would be “nonsensical” to invest in saving the lives of migrants attempting the Channel crossing, while also “putting them just next to where smugglers operate.”

Hasan Abdoullah, 21-year-old Sudanese migrant, leaves his tent set in an abandoned warehouse, where some migrants are taking shelter during the winter months, in Marck, near Calais, northern France on January 24, 2025.

At least 76 migrants died trying to cross to Britain last year, according to French authorities, making 2024 the deadliest year on record for the crossings.

Tens of thousands reached Britain, where the government has vowed to crack down on people-smuggling gangs.

Despite the cold, the men, women and children who made it to Calais continue to dream of crossing the sea to the United Kingdom.

A migrant makes a video call next to a pile of garbage in front of an abandoned warehouse, where some migrants are taking shelter during the winter months, in Marck, near Calais, northern France on January 24, 2025. In the industrial zone of Calais, hundreds of migrants are living in a hangar, protected from the rain but exposed to the cold, wind and humidity.

“We need to go to London because we need education. I want to go to school, and I need a good life and safety,” said Najma, adding Somalia was “not safe.”

“We haven’t taken the boat yet, but we need to. We’re waiting. I hope I can go one day.”

Hussein, a 27-year-old from Kuwait staying at the hotel, said his wife almost drowned a few days earlier when they set out into the Channel on a dinghy.

But the man, who preferred not to give his surname, said he was determined to try again.

“Even if something happens to me or I die trying, it’ll be better than life over here,” he said.

AFP

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