The eastern edge of Calais in France, is now "home" to about 3500 refugees from Africa living in makeshift camps.
On the eastern edge of Calais in France, just off the highway, in what used to be a landfill and is now called "the jungle", about 3,500 refugees live in makeshift camps. No one here is aware of the tragic story of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose photo, lying lifeless on a beach in Turkey, has sent shockwaves around the world.
On seeing Aylan's photo, 26-year-old Daniel Khazai, who fled Eritrea in Africa, said the United Nations and European leaders should handle this "horror". A graduate, Daniel said he wants to study political science in England so that he can get a job, pay off his debt and bring his family to Europe. In order to achieve his "dream", he makes an attempt every night to cross over. "To try is two things - you die or you will go to England," the young man said.
The English port of Dover is about 33 kilometres from Calais, making it one of the shortest crossing points for ferries from France to England.
10-year-old Haroon, who came from Pakistan with his uncles, said they had a "guarantee" from touts, who had taken large sums of money, to get across. He said he often tried to scale meshed wires or jump on to trucks. "I don't like it here in the jungle. I want to go somewhere else," he said. When asked where he would like to go, he said "England", cheerfully.
Women and children are a small minority in the jungle and are mostly from Eritrea and Ethiopia in Africa. They were lucky to survive journeys similar to the one that Aylan Kurdi, his elder brother and mother undertook but paid with their lives.
But Aylan's heart-wrenching photo has had a real impact. More people are pitching in to help and are gathering material to donate to the refugees.
"(For the last) 2 or 3 days, because of this photograph, this movement (of solidarity) has incredibly increased," Francois Guennoc, a retired Frenchman who runs a volunteer group told NDTV.
While Aylan's story has managed to shift global attention to the mammoth refugee crisis, people residing at the camps in Calais hope that it helps translate into concrete measures when European ministers meet next week to discuss the issue in Brussels.