Migrants in Calais are dying to leave.

Plus: What Cristina's reading

Tune in at 1:00 pm EST today: Fiona Hill and Toomas Hendrik Ilves will be discussing Biden’s Democracy Summit at American Purpose, co-hosted by Norman Eisen and the Transatlantic Democracy Working Group.

Tune in at 5:00 EST pm today: Claire Berlinski and (maybe, if he can stay up that late) Vivek Kelkar will be talking about … well, whatever our hosts want to talk about: In Lieu of Fun.

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Cristina Maza, Washington, D.C.

By Abdul Saboor.

The Calais “jungle,” a makeshift encampment housing thousands of migrants who are trying to make the journey from Northern France to the United Kingdom, sprang up around five years ago at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis. Although authorities have tried to crack down on smuggling groups and dislodge the encampment, migrants have continued to flock to the city unabated.

At least 27 people died this week in a desperate attempt to leave the port city and cross the English Channel. So this week Cristina had a brief chat with Abdul Saboor, an Afghan photojournalist based in Calais, about his journey to the city and why people want to leave it.

Cristina: Where are you from originally, and how long have you been in Calais?

Abdul: I’m from Afghanistan. I’ve been in Calais now for about three and a half years. I left Afghanistan because life was hard. I worked with the US Army, and I was shot and injured a few times. Then the US left the city where I was working. They all went home, and I was left on the ground there, so I decided it was time to leave.

Cristina: How did you travel to France from Afghanistan?

Abdul: Walking. I crossed borders on foot. It took me two years. I stayed in forests, mountains, refugee camps, “jungles,” anywhere I could find. I passed through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungry, Slovenia, and Italy. After that, I traveled to France and then Belgium, and Spain. Eventually, I went back to France, and I have been here ever since. It was a very long, long trip.

Cristina: How did you support yourself during that time?

Abdul: When I was traveling, I did a little bit of photography. My family sent me a little bit of money for food.  Now I teach photography in a university one day a week, and I sell my photos.

Cristina: I know that there’s been a recent uptick in the number of people trying to cross from Calais to the United Kingdom. Why is that happening now?

Abdul: Because the weather is bad. The camps are like hell. They are cold, windy, rainy. They are so cold. People are finding the camps very difficult. They don’t have enough to eat. A lot of people made a quick decision to leave. Many people go with traffickers. Some people try to go alone, but some go with traffickers. It’s because they are in the camps and they think, “what else can I do?”

Cristina: How much do the traffickers charge for their services?

Abdul: Different people charge different amounts. Some people charge 3,000 euros,  some 2,000 euros or some people say 5,000 euros.

Cristina: How many people do you estimate are in the camps now?

Abdul: I think there are maybe around 2,000 people. There are a lot of Kurds. There are people from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, Mali, Eritrea, really everywhere.

Cristina: What is the relationship between the people in the camps and the French authorities?

Abdul: The police are harassing people. Police are trying to evict people. They cut their tents. They give them a very difficult time.

Cristina: Why do people want to go to the UK instead of staying in France?

Abdul: Most people going to the UK tried another European country first. I don’t want to go to the UK because I have asylum in France. They didn’t get asylum, so they decided to go to the UK once they were rejected.

Learn more about Abdul and his work here. Here’s a short video about him:

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What Cristina’s writing

It was a roller-coaster week in the Senate, where Republicans voted to block consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act—an annual defense bill many consider sacrosanct—because Democrats wanted to skip voting on a Republican amendment on the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

No one in Washington likes the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but I don’t think anyone believed it had the power to delay the NDAA.

Then the argument pivoted to Senator Marco Rubio’s amendment on Uyghur forced labor in China's Xinjiang province. Here’s some reporting from the last few days:

• The fight over Nord Stream 2 amendments is really about whether the White House should have the power to waive congressionally-mandated sanctions. And it’s not an entirely partisan fight.

• The NDAA stalled in the Senate due to disagreements over Senator Marco Rubio’s amendment on Uyghur forced labor. Democrats argue that because revenue-generating legislation has to be passed in the lower chamber first, the House must pass a version of Rubio's bill before being included in the Senate version of the NDAA. On its face, this is a procedural issue. But Republicans say that House Dems are stalling on bringing the bill to the floor due to pressure from the Biden administration, which doesn’t want to derail climate negotiations with China.

• As the Senate struggles to advance its annual defense policy bill, it’s possible lawmakers will also run out of time to vote on a joint resolution to block a US$650 million weapons sale to Saudi Arabia. Members of Congress have just 30 days to vote on a joint resolution following congressional notification. That means they’ll need to vote on the resolution almost immediately.

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Cristina Maza is the National Journal’s award-winning foreign policy and defense correspondent. Read more by Cristina Maza here.