Refugee camp church, mosque destroyed to 'restore order'

French authorities on Feb. 1 bulldozed a church and a mosque in Calais, with the goal of restoring order in the refugee camp known as “The Jungle.” That meant clearing a 100-meter-wide security zone around the camp, where both the church and the mosque sat.

Officials say they warned residents on Sept. 19 of the pending operation, but Teferi Shuremo, pastor of the razed church, said they told him his building would be spared.

The refugee camp issue is not new in Calais or more broadly in France. Refugees hoping to get to England through the Chunnel (which connects Calais and London) created the camp in 1999. It grew until then-Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy closed it in 2002. It grew again following riots and the government periodically shut it down—three times in 2009 alone. But it continued to grow steadily, housing about 1,300 people in late 2014, 3,000 by mid-2015, and 6,000 last month.

Kurt Diederich, a Navigators staff member in France for 10 years, said French authorities should remain vigilant regarding Muslim activity, given recent attacks. The government’s target may have been the potentially troublesome mosque, with tearing down the church designed to allay concerns about fair treatment. But Diedrich dismissed that idea because the French government has not previously targeted mosques.

While defenders of religious liberty worried about the destruction of the religious buildings, French officials insisted the issue was refugee camp security and said Muslims and Christians were free to rebuild in another location. Shuremo said he intends to build another church, with God’s help.