Hundreds of illegal immigrants en route to United Kingdom live outside the northern French town of Calais in make-shift shelters, assembled from scraps and rubbish. These camps are known as “the jungle”.

To try and protect themselves from the law of the jungle, immigrants from the same region gather together. Afghans live in the woods outside the town while immigrants from Eritrea shelter near the port.

“If people knew life was like this in Europe, they would not come. They would rather face death than live this life,” said an Afghan immigrant named Sangar.

Voulnteers regularly serve over 400 meals to undocumented immigrants on a scrap of wasteland. But apart from the food, little is provided. Many hope this open-air canteen will be the last stage of their journey to the UK.

The immigrants have travelled thousands of miles in hiding by bus, lorry and on foot.

“I left Afghanistan a year ago,” said an Afghan man. “On the border between Iran and Turkey some soldiers shot at us. Six people were injured, and we were deported.”

Like Sangar, many are planning to get to Britain before claiming asylum there, where they have heard the process is easier.

Four showers for 600 people

Mariam Rachih, a charity worker for 'Secours Catholique', says that there are only four public showers available for around 600 people. “We give out tickets for the showers, but we cant take everyone,” she regretted.

Most of Calais's charity workers and volunteers say they are over-loaded, and have called for urgent help from the authorities. But their calls have so far been in vain.

Nearly two million lorries pass through the port of Calais every year. Security is tight, with an annual budget of around 12 million euros. Nevertheless, dozens of immigrants try to sneak onboard lorries every day. If the police find them, the drivers can be held responsible and face fines of around 2,500 euros per immigrant, as well as a ban on entering Britain.

In its frequent raids on illegal immigrants, the police use handcuffs, even though the operations are labeled as simple identity checks.

“Every day, they come, take us, record our fingerprints and keep us for 24 hours. Then they release us,” said Liaqat, another Afghan immigrant.

If police checks show they have had their fingerprints taken in another EU country, the immigrants can be deported back there. But if not, they are usually simply released.

Under international law, it is hard to send someone who has no official papers back to their home country, especially if that is a state at war. So the immigrants head back into their judicial no-mans land.