Calais "Jungle": Afghans in Transit (November 2016)

The data collection activity in the “Calais Jungle” has shown that the sample size predominantly consists of single Afghan males between the age of 18 and 25 years. The largest share of those interviewed lived in Afghanistan prior to their departure and almost half of them departed from the provinces Nangarhar and Kabul. For the majority of Afghan migrants in Calais the route led from Iran to Turkey whilst using the Western Balkan route to enter into Europe. Looking at the importance and the role of intermediaries it became apparent that extensive smuggling networks were used to reach Calais and that family members and friends in Afghanistan (form)/function as initial networks to find intermediaries to facilitate the journey to Europe. Data revealed that migrants go ‘through the hands’ of a lot of different smugglers until they reach their final destination countries. Smuggling networks seem well established throughout the journey and within Europe, mainly operated by other Afghans.