Watch Lily Allen’s Emotional Report From The Jungle In Calais
The pop singer spoke to a teenage boy who fled his home without his family.
The refugee camp in Calais, France is better known by its nickname "the Jungle." It's currently home to hundreds of vulnerable children who have fled war-torn Syria without their parents. However, the camp is set to be demolished by the end of the year and negotiations as to how many children will be able to enter the U.K. are ongoing.
This week the U.K. Home Secretary Amber Rudd vowed to speed up plans to resettle the children but time is of the essence and the imminent demolition of the camp will mean children could go missing. In May, Lord Dubs helped force the government into amending the U.K.'s Immigration Act, compelling them to take in more lone minors from Europe. However, no children have entered the country in the subsequent five months.
Lily Allen recently visited the camp for a BBC News report, which you can see above. She broke down in tears after apologising “on behalf of my country” to an Afghan teenager she met while filming her report in the Jungle. The 13-year-old tells her how his father had sold their land to protect him from the threat of Islamic State at home. He also tells Allen that he has a legal right to stay in the U.K., but that the legal process was “too slow” for him to be there right now.
Charities such as ActionAid, Help Refugees, and Care 4 Calais are putting pressure on the U.K. government to speed up the process of bringing children over the border from France before the demolition work begins. They also deliver essential aid to refugees awaiting help in Calais.