Struggling to cope with an influx of asylum seekers, Europe is becoming one of its own largest recipients of foreign aid, data released Tuesday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation revealed.
Governments have largely left it to aid organizations to house, protect, feed and process the refugees, many fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts. Local and international groups — some decades old, others only around for a few months — are now working in Greece, France and deeper into Europe.
The camp in Calais, France — which shelters more than 3,000 asylum seekers, most of them seeking passage to the United Kingdom — is now a bustling microcosm of the crisis. Its rubble-strewn dunes play host to an unexpected transplant from the developing world. From obstinate local authorities to water shortages to teargas, the conditions more resemble the fringes of conflict than the French coastline.