30 June 2020. South of Calais, France.<br />
Smuggler's Paradise. Interior of a seemingly deserted old caravan hidden in the sand dunes of a beach south of Calais where local police claim migrants often attempt the treacherous crossing to Great Britain. The caravan appears to have been recently used with cardboard laid on the ground for bedding and passport photos discovered on the sandy floor. The location is reasonably remote and backs onto farmland. A gravel access road makes this a prime location for ruthless criminal gangs to drop migrants paying as much as €5,000 for a ticket on an inflatable dinghy with a small outboard motor and less for surfboards and inflatable kayaks. Local police claim it is from here and other beaches in the region that migrants often set out to make desperate and dangerous attempts to cross one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Migrants are crossing the English Channel (La Manche) by boat, kayak, surf board and even inflatable paddling pools as numbers seeking asylum in the UK continue to rise. <br />
Photo©; Charlie Varley/varleypix.com