IN THE days and weeks after a photograph of a young Syrian child washed up on a beach in Turkey appeared in the global media, action was demanded on one of the worst migrant crises since World War II. While initially, it seemed that world leaders had been shocked into action, nearly two months later it all seems to have died down and the world has once again settled into inaction as thousands of refugees are still stuck in camps.

For those who have been there and seen the problems with their own eyes, however, it is still very much real and a pressing humanitarian issue that needs to be addressed. Mary Dawkins from Oylegate has recently returned from a refugee camp in Calais which has been labelled “The Jungle”. It is home to almost 4,000 refugees from Syria, Eritrea, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia, to name but a few and they’ve ended up there – stuck between dreadful poverty and violence in their home countries and the promise of a new life in the UK, in some kind of horrific multi-cultural half-way house.

Mary travelled to Calais with the Ireland Calais Refugee Solidarity Group, spending four days in “The Jungle” trying to help some of these people.

“It was truly heartbreaking,” she said. “But at the same time it’s one of the most worthwhile things I’ve ever done.”

Mary says that at the time she arrived, the population of the refugee camp was believed to be around 4,000 people, with hundreds more arriving each day.

“The conditions are very poor out there,” she said. “They are living in tents. The water they are provided with – we were told not to drink it as it contains ecoli. There’s no proper sanitaiton or refuse collection. In fact, the camp is built on the site of an old dump. I’ve seen pictures from inside the camp since I’ve left and the rain came in and it’s just turned into a sea of mud. If a farmer in Ireland had cattle out living in these conditions he’d be prosecuted.”

The camp is home to people of all ages from children right up to the elderly and Mary said that while she was there, a family arrived with six children and the mother was pregnant, having since gone on to give birth to a baby boy in the camp.

According to Mary, the refugees are extremely friendly people.

“You couldn’t pass people in there without them saying ‘hello’,” she said. “At first they thought we were English, but by day two everywhere we went they would greet us with cheers of ‘Irish!’. We made friends with the people out there and one of the people in the camp told a friend of mine that the four days that the ‘Irish’ were there, they ‘didn’t feel like refugees’. I can honestly say that they were some of the nicest, kindest and gentlest people I’ve met.”

While Mary and her group were welcomed with open arms by the refugees, they had to be careful of the French police, who she said were “brutal”.

“They didn’t like us being there at all,” she said. “We had to be careful around them. There was no messing. They are very brutal with the refugees. They use tear gas on them. One of the nights the threw tear gas in near the camp where the women and children are kept. Also there are a lot of young men on crutches after being beaten or attacked by police dogs. One of the things I’ve heard of happening is that they let the refugees tire themselves out trying to get on the train beofre they pepper spray them and set the dogs on them. A total of nine medical people came out to the camp with us and, in the four days, they treated over 1,000 people. Some of them had sustained horrific injuries at the hands of the French police.”

Having talked to a number of the refugees, Mary says that the reason the UK is such a desirable destination is firstly that English is, for the most part, their second language and the processes of unification with their families and getting to work would be quicker.

“A lot of people are under the impression that these people are just going to come over to our countries and sign on the dole,” said Mary. “That’s not the case at all. They are not coming here for money. These are highly educated people. Some of them are dentists, doctors and lawyers. They want to work. I feel that a lot needs to be done by the Irish government and by governments around Europe to help these people. This is a real humanitarian crisis.”

The Ireland Calais Refugee Solidarity Group have been doing all they can to help these refugees bringing vital supplies, with the top items on the list being shoes and bikes.

“A lot of them just arrive in the clothes they are wearing,” Mary said. “They only have flip-flops on their feet, so proper footwear – boots and trainers – is a high priority. Also a lot of bikes are being brought out to be used in the camps. The reason for this is that the camp is so big and sometimes it may be necessary for refugees to walk up to 14km a day just to get food.”

Mary says that the journey was an unforgettable experience and her family were delighted to see her get home safe and sound.

“I suppose they were a little bit nervous,” she said. “They were glad to have me back. When I was out there I remember talking to 18 year-olds who had nothing. All of their families were gone; dead. It really broke my heart. I just kept thinking of my own family and my own children. The only difference between them and these people in Calais is where they were born and the colour of their skin.”

For more details on what you can do to help those stuck in refugee camps, please find the Ireland Calais Refugee Solidarity page on Facebook.

A view of the migrant camp known as the Jungle in Calais, France.