Calais migrants face grim winter in ‘the jungle’

In the Calais migrant camp where the stench of human excrement and bonfires of plastic waste taint the chilly sea air, a man in a polythene rain suit cycles on the spot, powering a dynamo to charge a mobile phone.
Of the 700,000 people who have reached Europe this year looking for peace and prosperity but lacking the papers to stay, the 6,000 living in the dunes on the northwest coast of France in hope of reaching Britain may be among the most determined and resourceful.
Yet simply staying warm, healthy, and in touch with loved ones is proving a challenge there as winter tightens its grip on the sprawl of tents and shanties. There are families, young children, disabled people, and some who are making a living at the site, known locally as "the jungle".
Not everybody is trying their luck with the regular Russian roulette of cutting holes in fences, leaping on trucks and trains, and trying to walk the undersea tunnel.
Brwa, a 17 year-old Iraqi from Kirkuk, has been in the jungle for four months.
He says he is the only member of his family attempting to go to Britain every night.In his tent are his parents, his sister, her husband and a one-year old baby girl called Elia, who is sleeping.
"We use (canister) gas to heat the tent and everybody wants to come inside.
The baby is always kept under blankets and a sleeping bag," he says.Kazhen, 27, who fled from Kirkuk in Iraq in September, is blind, and moves around with the help of his friends."So many people are catching a cold. We wear a lot of clothing," he says."We have a fire place. We burn wood, plastic also... but it’s not good for health you know?
"Residents camping here are trying to reach Britain, which is in the European Union but outside its Schengen border-free travel zone.
They believe they would have a better life there than in the EU countries on the European mainland.Caravans, donated by local sympathizers, have taken the place of some tents.
An Iraqi family with children aged 5 and 6 live in one. Inhabitants say there are now five mosques and three churches. Reuters saw one wooden mosque being built to replace a canvas one.
Makeshift shops have popped up. These signs of permanence have grown since the summer, but along with increased numbers, so has the sense of tension.
The man on the generator bicycle did not want to talk or be photographed. "No camera" said a sign over one of the shops nearby.