Ten years after the demolition of the "Jungle" - the sprawling Calais encampment where thousands of asylum seekers once pitched makeshift shelters before attempting Channel crossings - the French coast remains a grimly familiar scene. Everything has changed. Nothing has changed.
In a woodland clearing near one of Calais's busy main roads, brightly coloured tents are pitched against the brisk autumnal breeze. A jacket hangs from a tree branch, flapping beside a belt decorated with union flags. It is only October, but the wind makes it feel several degrees chillier. "I live in a tent," says Adam*, an electrical engineering student from Sudan who fled when the war started, speaking at a nearby charity-run phone charging session. "We have been evicted so many times. It is not worth having any possessions because the police take everything. I only have the clothes you can see me wearing now."
Successive UK governments have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on initiatives to curb illegal migration via northern France, including paying the French for coastal police enforcement. On Wednesday, Rob Jones, director general of operations at the National Crime Agency, told MPs that thanks to UK-France efforts the business model of people smugglers enabling small boat crossings was "starting to shake." Shaking, perhaps, but not yet collapsed.
More than 200,000 asylum seekers have made the journey from Calais to the UK since the "Jungle" - one of Europe's largest such camps - was torn down. On its 10th anniversary, about 4,000 people remain in smaller camps in Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne, waiting to cross. The predominant nationalities hoping to reach the UK are almost identical to 2016: Eritreans, Sudanese, Somalis, Iranians and Afghans. Their resolve to reach Britain, where they believe they will be safe, has not weakened. Living conditions remain harsh and basic.
Small boat arrivals to the UK have been steadily dropping - from more than 41,000 in 2025 to about 21,000 so far this year - though this can partly be attributed to an overall reduction in irregular migration to Europe and a large number of windy days making crossings more difficult. In 2016 almost nobody crossed the Channel in small boats; from 2018 onwards, numbers began to rise.
France's "zero point de fixation" policy was introduced to prevent another large encampment. The result: small living sites in wooded areas - particularly in Calais - are evicted on average once every 48 hours, with asylum seekers' tents, clothing and other possessions destroyed or confiscated by police. Most simply set up a new camp nearby, often with donated tents from charities. Human Rights Observers, which documents the treatment of asylum seekers in northern France, calls this cycle the "border spectacle."
Far-right agitators have travelled from the UK to harass people in the makeshift camps, leading French authorities to ban 10 people from entering the country. But more continue to arrive. Recently two agitators from Belgium and a third from Poland also travelled to northern France to harass and intimidate asylum seekers.
Many at the phone charging session have attempted the Channel crossing several times. This week's home affairs committee heard evidence that the average number of crossing attempts per person has increased from three to seven. Police treatment is a much-discussed topic. Utopia 56, a French charity supporting displaced and homeless people, says it has documented a 40% increase in police violence towards asylum seekers between April and August 2026 compared with the same period last year.
"I understand that the police are doing their work but why do they have to be so aggressive?" says one 16-year-old boy at the session, who does not wish to be named. "They stop me so often in Calais even when I am not trying to cross. Life in Calais is too difficult, everyone wants to leave as quickly as possible. I'm 16, I'm too young for this life but I don't have a choice."
Human Rights Observers counted 539 evictions of 3,792 people in Calais last year. They say firewood used for warmth and cooking is seized during evictions. Project Play, which supports displaced children and families in northern France, also reports an increase in aggressive police behaviour. "In recent years, we have seen an escalation in violence against everyone at the border - including children and families," said Katie Hall, advocacy lead at Project Play. "This year, we have also seen the police forcibly separating families, including by preventing parents from reaching children already on boats by taking hold of their other children. This is catastrophic for human rights, and reflects a politics devoid of empathy and humanity."
With his phone fully charged, Adam leaves the session with a cheerful wave, carrying several takeaway containers of food provided by the charity to share with friends in neighbouring tents. "I don't know if I will ever find a way of continuing my degree but for now I am just trying to find somewhere I won't be evicted from every two days," he says. "I would like to reach the UK because I can speak English. But I am scared of the water so don't want to get into a dinghy. I am trying to claim asylum in France. There is no straight road to safety."