Under 18 in Calais: who to call

If you are under 18 and on your own, you are not in the same situation as an adult, and there are services that exist only for you. Saying so is your right, and nobody needs your documents in order to listen to you.

France Terre d'Asile answers on +33 7 61 44 79 29. They can offer shelter for up to five nights, in Arras or Saint-Omer.

ECPAT answers on +33 7 53 57 05 34, and holds a drop-in on Monday afternoons at the Secours Catholique day centre.

Médecins Sans Frontières runs a day centre reserved for under-18s: +33 7 61 33 80 46. There is no distribution there, but you can be listened to and treated.

Kaleidoscope works with 12- to 18-year-olds in three places: at the day centre on Wednesday, 13:30 to 16:00; at the Médecins Sans Frontières day centre on Monday, 14:30 to 16:00; and at the “English toilets” on boulevard des Justes, with the Channel Info Project, on Friday, 11:00 to 13:00.

If your age is doubted and you are treated as an adult, that is a legal question and you should raise it at a drop-in. In the United Kingdom, age disputes follow their own rules: the guide “Claiming asylum in the United Kingdom” on this site explains them.