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Music

Lily Allen Visits Calais "Jungle" to Meet Refugees in New Short Doc

“We’ve bombed your country, put you in the hands of the Taliban, and now we're putting you at risk to get into our country.”

Today, there are an estimated 7,300 people living in the Calais "jungle" refugee camp. The conditions in the camp are notoriously horrific, without proper sanitary or washing facilities and shelters consisting of tents, and those living there have fled war-torn countries in the hope of a better life in the UK or elsewhere in Europe. The situation has been in the news for well over a year now, and the camp is about to face complete demolition, meaning that many of the unaccompanied children and teenagers will have no place to go. Many of the child refugees are eligible to come to the UK, but have been repeatedly ignored by our Home Office​. Ahead of the demolition, Lily Allen went to the camp with UK charity Help Refugees to speak to some of those living there, many of whom actually have a legal right to live the UK.

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In a video for the BBC, Lily met a 13-year-old boy from Afghanistan who's father is in Birmingham, but who cannot get into the UK without risking his life hiding in lorries or waiting months for the legal forms to be processed. "It just seems that at three different intervals in [your] life the English in particular have put you in danger," Lily says to him. "We've bombed your country, put you in the hands of the Taliban, and now we're putting you at risk to get into our country. I apologise on behalf of my country. I'm sorry for what we've put you through."

Watch the short film below.