On how every fortress falls.........eventually

Embers from the 2010 refugee crisis still glow red hot along the coast in Nothern France. On the outskirts of Calais and Dunkirk pockets of migrants prepare for winter awaiting their chance to cross the Channel. Though French - & British NGO’s provide the necessary assistance most, if not all, will sleep outside without proper shelter and adequate clothing. (Average temperatures for Calais in January hover around 4.9 °C) On top of that French Police actively and routinely clear out campsites whereby they confiscate tents and other necessities like sleeping bags, blankets and tarps.

It is fair to say that in a new nuanced political border dispute these undesirables, as many view them, are trapped in a literal no man's land.

Between the 25th & 29th of December, I visited Calais & Dunkirk and was staggered by what I encountered. The divide. The erosion of our common humanity. Unsurprisingly I wondered whether the populist’ analogy to war and its lingo equate to the actual crisis on the ground. And despite the tired faces I mostly encountered kindness and warmth. Be that domestic or alien.