Refugees Confront Danger as They Seek Better Life

SANGATTE, France —  Inside a stuffy mobile home at a Red Cross center, about a dozen Afghan children clap their hands and sing “Happy Birthday.” Little Abdelaziz happily blows out the five candles on his cake, but his parents are dreaming of greater rewards: a new life in Britain.

The family is among some 400 Afghan refugees in this small town on the English Channel coast, all dreaming of crossing the sea to Britain, which has a comparatively liberal policy toward asylum seekers. While Afghan political factions are trying to work together to rebuild their homeland, these uprooted compatriots have no desire to return.

“This year, the best present for these kids would be to land in Britain,” said 32-year-old Abdelrahim, speaking in Farsi.

He left Jalalabad three months ago with his wife, 2-year-old son and brother. “We don’t want our children to grow up in a fundamentalist environment like Afghanistan,” he said.

In all, there are 1,200 refugees of different nationalities at the center in Sangatte, a town of 900 people a few miles from the French entrance of the Eurotunnel. They share the same goals: to somehow get to Britain, and find a job and a house.

The Afghans say that no matter the situation in Afghanistan, they won’t be able to fulfill their dreams at home any time soon.

“For me, the Northern Alliance are the same as the Taliban--the only difference is that their beards are shorter, and they steal more,” Abdelrahim said with a laugh.

Maryam, 29, a mother of four from Kabul, agrees. “It will be possible to go back when Afghanistan is in the hands of one single leader, and the country becomes independent and peaceful,” she said. “In the meantime, I want my children to study in England and become doctors, and then we’ll be able to return and help our country.”

It isn’t that easy. The refugees have only two ways to cross the channel: hop freight trains heading through the Eurotunnel or stow away in cargo ferries at the French port of Calais.

Both methods are dangerous. According to the Interior Ministry, six people have died this year attempting to sneak through the tunnel, and about 100 have been injured.

Still, they try. On Christmas, about 130 refugees broke through fences and electronic locks and overwhelmed the outnumbered security force, then started walking through the tunnel. French police tracked them down and turned them back. Police reportedly used tear gas to repulse a separate group of 400 who were approaching the tunnel entrance.

The nightly drill is less dramatic but ever present. About 100 refugees from Sangatte are arrested in the Eurotunnel zone and the port area each night. It’s hard to say how many get through, but probably dozens each week.

“I’ve tried to cross three times,” Maryam said. “Each time, the children fall sick because it’s so cold, so we have to wait until they get better before we try again.”

Some refugees have tried to cross the English Channel 30 or 40 times and say they’ll try again.

Their efforts have angered Britain’s government, which has pressured France to improve security. Eurotunnel’s operator has beefed up security with additional fences and infrared cameras, and the port of Calais is also strengthening security.

With tightened measures at European borders since Sept. 11, the number of refugees arriving at Sangatte has dropped, the Red Cross says. After peaking at 1,670 asylum-seekers on Sept. 2, the center now shelters an average of 1,000 to 1,300 people, a majority of them Afghans and Iraqi Kurds.

As some slip into England, others give up that dream and head to other parts of Europe. But each week, 500 to 600 new refugees arrive in Sangatte. About 200 to 300 of them are Afghans, many of them under 18.

The center was set up in September 1999 in an unused Eurotunnel building. In two years, more than 43,000 people have passed through.

Townspeople aren’t happy. “We have the feeling we’re invaded,” said Pascal Dubus, a doctor. “Besides, along with these distraught people, you have the Mafia networks and the smugglers, who take advantage of the misery of the world.”

According to refugees, smugglers’ prices for crossing the channel vary from $300 to $1,800 for a single person. As the passage becomes more difficult, prices are rising, with an average of $1,000 per person, said Jafar, 25.

The combined factors of danger and uncertainty take their toll. “We’re going crazy here,” he said.

Recently, a minor dispute between an Afghan and a Kurd at the center blew up into a violent clash involving 300 refugees, some armed with stones, iron rods or knives. Sporadic fights went on for almost 24 hours and left 29 people injured.

Stuck at the center, refugees have little to do besides drink tea, listen to the radio or watch TV news to get the latest from Afghanistan.

As night falls, refugees prepare, yet again, to try to sneak aboard a train or ferry. Those with enough money call a cab to get closer to the port. Men start walking in small groups toward the tunnel area.

“All my life, I’ve known war,” said Ghadar, 26. “All my life, I’ve seen nothing but blood in Afghanistan. Now, I want to live in peace.”