4.4 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 3 March 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
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In 2015, Europe was in the grip of a migrant crisis, as more than one million people fled regions including the Middle East. Many set their sights on a new life in the UK. But, in order to get there, they had to cross the English Channel.
One of the most common methods was to hide aboard vehicles destined for Britain at the French port city of Calais. This led to the creation of a squalid migrant camp outside Calais, known as the "Jungle". It was populated by seven to ten thousand people at its largest.
Jean-Marc Puissesseau was head of the Port of Calais during the crisis. He speaks to Ben Henderson.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Chris Patten hands over flag during Honk Kong handover ceremony. Credit: Guillaume Pinon/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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0:00.0 | On Radio 4, the more you listen, the more you see. |
0:04.7 | Hello, I'm Brian Cox. |
0:05.6 | And I'm Robin Ince, and this is The Infinite Monkey Cage. |
0:08.3 | In this series, we're going to have a planet off. |
0:10.8 | I feel like Jupiter wins. |
0:12.8 | And after all of that, we're just going to chill out a bit. |
0:15.9 | We're talking about your bog standard. |
0:17.8 | Ice, not the fancy one. |
0:20.1 | Science with funny bits. |
0:21.9 | The new series of The Infinite Monkey Cage. |
0:24.1 | Listen on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. |
0:32.1 | Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Ben Henderson. |
0:39.4 | In 2015, Europe was in the grip of a migrant crisis, as more than one million people fled regions, |
0:46.5 | including the Middle East. Many set their sights on a new life in the UK. But in order to get |
0:52.5 | there, they had to cross the English Channel. |
0:56.2 | One of the most common methods was to hide aboard vehicles destined for Britain at the French |
1:01.4 | port city of Calais. This led to the creation of a squalid migrant camp outside Calais, populated by |
1:08.8 | roughly 10,000 people, known as the jungle. |
1:13.7 | You have to understand that during years and years, the migrant situation for the port was in my head. |
1:20.5 | Morning, evening, during the day, during the night. |
1:24.0 | This is Jean-Marc-Puisessau. He was head of the Port of Calais during the crisis. |
1:29.3 | That was a permanent trouble. |
... |
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