A RETIRED GP from Marlborough, who is going back to the Calais Jungle refugee camp for the second time, says the most valuable part of his work will be using the skills he developed over 25 years in the town to provide a 'listening ear', as he is not allowed to practise abroad.

Dr Nick Maurice, 73, of London Road, will be travelling to Calais on Monday. Although Dr Maurice is a qualified and experienced doctor he says there are limits to what he is allowed to do whilst in Calais.

“There is paracetamol, but the majority of what you are doing is first aid," he explained. "There isn’t anything like antibiotics that you can hand out. There is a large warehouse not far from the camp which contains a mass of simple medicines, clothes and items of food that have been donated by generous people in the UK.

"The thing is that I am limited in what I can do because British doctors are not recognised by the French, so we formed a triage system as we have to refer serious cases to Medicines sans Frontières. It is frustrating and it isn't at the same time.

"I would say about 20-25 cases that came to me were rather trivial things. In the ten days that I was there only two or three cases needed to be passed on."

Dr Maurice found that one of the most useful things he could do on his first visit in May, when he was shocked at the living conditions the migrants found themselves in, was to listen to people and help them to get their worries off their chest.

"People from Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq all had to do a lot to get to the Jungle. One of the most important things is that there are an estimated 200-300 unaccompanied children in the camp,” said Mr Maurice.

“There was one boy I met called Ahmed, he is a 12-year-old from Afghanistan whose father left to get to London. Through an interpreter he told me his father managed to get into the country on the back of a truck and live in London for three years before he was deported back to Afghanistan. When he returned he was killed by the Taliban.

“His uncle said it was too dangerous for Ahmed to be there, so took him to the traffickers to take him to Calais. When I asked him how long it took he said three months and he didn’t know where he had travelled through. I asked him if he had any family back in Afghanistan and he said his mother and sister. I asked him if he cries because of it, and he replied that his crying had long stopped. It is utterly heart-breaking.”

Dr Maurice and his wife Kate are trying to do as much as possible to raise the awareness of the conditions the migrants in Calais are experiencing.

“I have been talking to politicians about the Jungle. There are 6,000 people living in the poorest conditions. I am trying to negotiate advocacy of the work and by speaking to more people about it, more people will know what it is like out there," he said.

"We are in the 21st century and it is hard to believe that this is happening. There are an estimated 65 million refugees in this world and it is a big problem.What I want to talk about to politicians is not so much how we can help these desperate people in the camp but how we can quickly resettle them in UK and France, not least the estimated 300 unaccompanied children.

"I am hoping to meet Lord Alf Dubs this weekend, who has been doing a huge amount to get recognition for the children in the hope they can be reunited quickly with families in the UK and, if they don't have families, can be found foster homes. Some of them have been in the Jungle as long as nine months, living under ghastly conditions and soon winter will be upon them. There is no electricity or running water. It's a nightmare scenario.”