Calais child refugees coerced into unpaid slave labor

Orphan Train is well worth a read about what happened to poor orphans (and some whose parents gave them up because they couldn't afford to feed them) in the late 1800s-early 1900s in the US.

Between 1854 and 1929, so-called orphan trains ran regularly from the cities of the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest, carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by luck or chance. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?

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It seems human nature doesn't change because we've become more enlightened.

Labor has to be paid for. Period. Or it's slavery.

But the pic accompanying the article shows smiling male teenagers, appearing well-fed, most of whom have smartphones in their hands. It doesn't match the bleak situation painted by the article.

Alessandra Kelley said:

Oh wow, it's the old Confederates' argument that their slaves couldn't possibly have been unhappy to be slaves because they smiled and played music and were clothed, housed, and fed.

In what world do refugee children have to look sorrowful and winsome and waiflike before we will help them?

Abused minors forced into unpaid slave labor are worthy of compassion and aid. Period.

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Ah. Take a look at the article. It quotes one of them as saying they're subsisting on rotten apples and have not been given a change of clothes. The pic doesn't look anything similar to what he described.

Am not saying they're happy.

Am saying the other parts sound like every other teenager's hyperbole.

Plus the part where one says he's bored really fits teen petulance than actual wrongdoing.

Could be a good idea to give the accused benefit of doubt.

josephperin said:

Ah. Take a look at the article. It quotes one of them as saying they're subsisting on rotten apples and have not been given a change of clothes. The pic doesn't look anything similar to what he described.

Am not saying they're happy.

Am saying the other parts sound like every other teenager's hyperbole.

Plus the part where one says he's bored really fits teen petulance than actual wrongdoing.

Could be a good idea to give the accused benefit of doubt.

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If it's like the orphaned children here in the US, from the book I cited:

carrying thousands of abandoned children whose fates would be determined by luck or chance. Would they be adopted by a kind and loving family, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude

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Some families took the kids in, others wanted cheap labor. Some kids were well treated, some were treated fairly but there was no caring or love involved, and some were beaten and treated poorly.

You can't judge by one picture of one group of kids.

josephperin said:

But the pic accompanying the article shows smiling male teenagers, appearing well-fed, most of whom have smartphones in their hands. It doesn't match the bleak situation painted by the article.

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You probably want to take that up with the person who chose the picture.

MaeZe said:

You can't judge by one picture of one group of kids.

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Especially not because the pic you are seeing is not necessarily the pic of the children involved. With all kids, but especially with asylum seeker or refugee children, there are all sorts of issues of safety and anonymity and image-ownership that have to be taken into account.

^ True.

But the article quotes the kids and the organization looking out for such abuses. Did the organization contact the government? Did the reporter? I don't see evidence that either did.

The kids being abused should be removed immediately from the situation.

If the people accused of running the slave camp really have not done anything of the sort, then they're being punished for their good deed.

Just as we cannot judge from the picture, no conclusion can be drawn from the story because it has presented only one side.

PS. I asked my 9 year old to rake leaves in the backyard today. It's usually more work for me what with all the whining that ensues. I think (hope) she would be sensible enough to know it's not true if an irresponsible journalist suggested to her it was slave labor. But for a frightened teenager far from home, it could very well seem to be true.

josephperin said:

^ True.

But the article quotes the kids and the organization looking out for such abuses. Did the organization contact the government? Did the reporter? I don't see evidence that either did.

The kids being abused should be removed immediately from the situation.

If the people accused of running the slave camp really have not done anything of the sort, then they're being punished for their good deed.

Just as we cannot judge from the picture, no conclusion can be drawn from the story because it has presented only one side.

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The caption for that image is: "Teenage boys dispersed from the Calais refugee camp wait at a reception centre in southern France."

Notice how generic that caption is? The boys pictured are not specified as being the ones quoted in the story, or being based at the camp in northern France that's been highlighted with these issues. There is nothing to say that they were the ones interviewed for the survey.

If you judge articles by the chosen image, you're going to get really misled.

Focus on the text, not the colourful pictures.

But the article quotes the kids and the organization looking out for such abuses. Did the organization contact the government? Did the reporter? I don't see evidence that either did.

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The article specifically quotes the Home Office, which is part of the Government.

"The Home Office said it “remains absolutely committed to bringing all eligible children to the UK as soon as possible” and that children in the welcome centres are being assessed to see if they are eligible under the Dubs amendment."

Just as we cannot judge from the picture, no conclusion can be drawn from the story because it has presented only one side.

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The 13 teenage boys testifying present 8 different sides of the issue.

(13 = 39% of 33 teenage boys interviewed, who said they were better off in Calais. Roughly 8 had the filthy clothes issue.)

I think (hope) she would be sensible enough to know it's not true if an irresponsible journalist suggested to her it was slave labor. But for a frightened teenager far from home, it could very well seem to be true.

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No irresponsible journalists interviewed these boys. They were interviewed by trained charity workers in their own language.

What you're describing here is completely wrong and disingenuous.

"Safe Passage UK interviewed each child for 45 minutes in their own language."

PS. I asked my 9 year old to rake leaves in the backyard today. It's usually more work for me what with all the whining that ensues. I think (hope) she would be sensible enough to know it's not true if an irresponsible journalist suggested to her it was slave labor. But for a frightened teenager far from home, it could very well seem to be true.

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If 13 out of 33 children that raked your lawn came to me with horror stories about their treatment, I'd be on the phone to the police immediately.


[EDIT: Had to double-check my figures, thanks for bearing with these edits. It seems like my maths is correct now, but the use of fractions in the article is a bit hard to parse so please accept my apologies if I've screwed up anywhere.]

EMaree said:

The article specifically quotes the Home Office, which is part of the Government. So yes, they did.

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The quotes from the Home Office are not related t the situation. They are pretty generic. Also, isn't the Home Office in Britain? How would they exert control over something happening in Calais?

Again, not arguing nothing happened. But this seems like shoddy journalism.

Also, if the people running the camp have not done anything wrong, they're being punished for their good deeds. What will happen when the next group of people comes along needing help? Will there be anyone willing?

josephperin said:

^ True.

But the article quotes the kids and the organization looking out for such abuses. Did the organization contact the government? Did the reporter? I don't see evidence that either did.

The kids being abused should be removed immediately from the situation.

If the people accused of running the slave camp really have not done anything of the sort, then they're being punished for their good deed.

Just as we cannot judge from the picture, no conclusion can be drawn from the story because it has presented only one side.

PS. I asked my 9 year old to rake leaves in the backyard today. It's usually more work for me what with all the whining that ensues. I think (hope) she would be sensible enough to know it's not true if an irresponsible journalist suggested to her it was slave labor. But for a frightened teenager far from home, it could very well seem to be true.

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I'm not sure where irresponsible journalism comes into this story. Is your point that the children in the photo accompanying the story look happy and well-cared-for, or that a journalist could frame your own kid's task as slave labour? Because these things seem a lot like intentional distractions from the issue covered by the report.

Alessandra Kelley said:

The children are trying to migrate to the UK. Some of them already have family there.

That is why the Home Office of the UK is involved.

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As indeed is stated in the article.

One of the teenage boys, based in a camp in northern France, said: “It is horrible. We worked all day picking apples and were left to eat the rotten ones. The rest went to be sold in France. We just want to be with our family in the UK.”

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josephperin, I think you've been distracted by the picture and the smartphones. The article is well worth the read.

Sorry everyone, I was fiddling with my post and didn't realise replies were coming in.

Regarding the "irresponsible journalism"...

I think (hope) she would be sensible enough to know it's not true if an irresponsible journalist suggested to her it was slave labor. But for a frightened teenager far from home, it could very well seem to be true.

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No irresponsible journalists interviewed these boys. They were interviewed by trained charity workers in their own language.

What you're describing here is completely wrong and disingenuous.

"Safe Passage UK interviewed each child for 45 minutes in their own language."

josephperin said:

The quotes from the Home Office are not related t the situation. They are pretty generic. Also, isn't the Home Office in Britain? How would they exert control over something happening in Calais?

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Of course the Home Office are related to the situation, they're responsible for getting these boys out of the welcome centres and to the UK.

The UK was been the driving force behind the (long overdue) destruction of the jungle camp. It's committed to taking these children, that's what they're currently waiting for and being prepared for.

How would they exert control over something happening in Calais?

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I'm confused, are you commenting on this article while unaware of how much of a British issue this is? Calais is the border between England and France, to put things very simply. The camp only exists because these refugees wanted to come to the UK.

This is a joint France/Britain issue at best, but in many ways it's primarily a British issue. It exists because Britain is seen as a safe place for refugees fleeing violence and terror.

Again, not arguing nothing happened. But this seems like shoddy journalism.

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It feels like you're deliberately obscuring the fact that this was a large-scale charity survey, not a journalistic exercise. Journalists did not do this survey.

josephperin said:

.... PS. I asked my 9 year old to rake leaves in the backyard today. It's usually more work for me what with all the whining that ensues. I think (hope) she would be sensible enough to know it's not true if an irresponsible journalist suggested to her it was slave labor. But for a frightened teenager far from home, it could very well seem to be true.

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In my opinion, that you would make this comparison is unfortunate.

Having been to more than a few countries where child labor was common, it is the norm for some kids to work all day everyday, be it in a factory or the fields. These refugee children are more vulnerable than most, some of the girls are being trafficked as sex workers, and both genders are being trafficked for labor.

I imagine if you were a Syrian refugee child who had been living in the Calais camp, it would be a relief if you were safe and had to rake leaves and do chores in a household that was providing for you.

Human traffickers 'using migration crisis' to force more people into slavery

EU report warns that children have become preferred target for criminal gangs amid concern over thousands of minors disappearing from official view...

Almost 96,000 unaccompanied children claimed asylum in Europe in 2015, about one-fifth of the total number of child refugees. But at least 10,000 unaccompanied children have dropped off the radar of official agencies since arriving in Europe, the EU police agency reported in January. German authorities reported earlier this year that 4,700 children had been lost to officials, while up to 10 children a week are reported missing in Sweden....

EU authorities registered 15,846 victims of human trafficking in 2013-14, including 2,375 children, but the report’s authors believe the true number of victims is far higher. More than two-thirds (67%) of people were trafficked into sex work; about one-fifth (21%) were put into forced labour, often as agricultural workers, a form of slavery that disproportionately affected men. The remainder of trafficking victims faced an equally grim catalogue of exploitation, ranging from domestic servitude to forced begging.

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I doubt the EU countries have the resources to counteract the trafficking, and certainly they face some of the same bigotry among their own citizens that we are facing here against immigrants.

MaeZe said:

In my opinion, that you would make this comparison is unfortunate.

Having been to more than a few countries where child labor was common, it is the norm for some kids to work all day everyday, be it in a factory or the fields. These refugee children are more vulnerable than most, some of the girls are being trafficked as sex workers, and both genders are being trafficked for labor.

I imagine if you were a Syrian refugee child who had been living in the Calais camp, it would be a relief if you were safe and had to rake leaves and do chores in a household that was providing for you.

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I lived in India a good number of years before moving to the US. Though there are child labor laws, it does go on.

My family works to move victims of sex trafficking to safe homes. Abused children, child slaves - I'm not unaware of the tragedies.

The article says that the kids were asked to pick 4 kg fruit every afternoon on weekdays.

This does not even come close to it, the way it's described. (4 kg apples = 32 small or 16 big generally, in one afternoon). But if they were given nothing to eat and no clothes to change, of course, it's abuse.

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Can't figure out how to multi-quote
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Home Office is not going to be able to one thing for the kdis if there were something going on. The charity does not seem to have contacted the French authorities. The journalist says nothing about it either.

josephperin said:

... The article says that the kids were asked to pick 4 kg fruit every afternoon on weekdays.

This does not even come close to it, the way it's described. (4 kg apples = 32 small or 16 big generally, in one afternoon).

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That was one report. Given the article was addressing unpaid labor, it seemed to be the author's point with that one example.

Other kids said they had to pick fruit all day.

josephperin said:

... Home Office is not going to be able to one thing for the kdis if there were something going on. The charity does not seem to have contacted the French authorities. The journalist says nothing about it either.

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Given I posted an article from last summer where thousands of kids are being lost to the system, and given the refugee camp in Calais was just fire-bombed and that isn't the first time people attacked that camp, the idea the French authorities are unaware of the general problem is unlikely.

If you don't think there's a problem, I wouldn't base it on that one article, I'd look into it a bit deeper.

josephperin said:

But if they were given nothing to eat and no clothes to change, of course, it's abuse.

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The article directly refers to the boys being given rotten food to eat and dirty clothes to wear for four weeks.

I really don't understand what other evidence you're looking for here. Government authorities going 'yeap, that's definitely a survey'? Do you want the participants put through more interviews?

Why isn't the word of these young black and brown boys enough? Why assume they're lying?

These young men have done nothing to provoke doubt. They are not your 9 year old daughter, they are refugees fleeing violence and horror.

Home Office is not going to be able to one thing for the kids if there were something going on. The charity does not seem to have contacted the French authorities. The journalist says nothing about it either.

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British authorities were contacted, and Britain and France share responsibility here. This is a British article for a British paper, whose readers likely won't care about French government quotes. British authorities have been contacted, and have commented, it's right there in the article.

Various people in this thread have explained to you why the Home Office in the UK is involved in Calais. If you think this is something only the French authorities have power over, and only French govt is involved in, you are very very far off the mark.

These are migrants coming to the UK. They are soon-to-be British citizens. They are British.

josephperin said:

My family works to move victims of sex trafficking to safe homes. Abused children, child slaves - I'm not unaware of the tragedies.

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Well, you seem in the quick pivots of all your responses to the article so far to be fairly unaware of the issues in the Calais 'jungle' - so that's probably what's confusing.

Perhaps if you just picked one aspect of the story that you don't believe to be accurate and then either asked for info or researched the question yourself and brought some new answers in to share with the rest of us?

Apropos of no particular post, just a thought that's at the front of my mind right now:

The entire reason this is a problem is because the UK is dragging its heels at getting these young men over into our country. It's already been agreed that this will happen, it just... hasn't happened yet.

These young men are stuck in these welcome centres because of British government failure.

The treatment in the welcome centres is an issue, yes, but it's an issue that shouldn't exist. They should be in Britain by now. Britain has made this happen by not moving faster. We are far more responsible for causing this than France is, and France is very limited in what it can do aside from wait for us to get our shit together.

And don't get me started on Australian asylum-seeker policies.

EMaree said:

Why isn't the word of these young black and brown boys enough? Why assume they're lying?

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I mentioned elsewhere I moved to the US from India. As the brown parent of brown children, I'm aware of what brown children do. And I didn't say they were lying, I said it sounds like teen petulance. There is a difference.

The food and clothes problem is not something that can be solved by the Brit Home Office. If the charities were looking to solve it, they would contact the French first to seek an immediate solution. If there is a fire on, you call the Fire Dept, not the Dept of Buildings for permit to rebuild.

It sounds like the charities and/or the journalist went is search of a story they could horrify the reader with.

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Again, unsure how to multiquote

There is a diff between saying THIS story has holes and saying EVERY story is untrue. On a personal level, it's a little astounding to me to be told I am unaware because I said one story sounds fishy,

I am going through different aspects because there ARE so many holes in this.

1) Pics - OK, maybe not the same refugees although the caption states they are Calais refugees
2) The fact that neither the charity nor the journo thought it was worth calling emergency help after learning they were only given rotten fruit for 4 weeks!

I'll go back to lurking. Every allegation of abuse needs to be taken seriously, but not all of them may be true. By piling on, people who are actually willing to help will be discouraged. This will contribute to the foot-dragging you mentioned. WHen the population is unwilling to help because of the risk of being accused of slavery, then the govt. will not feel the pressure to act fast, either