Speaking in the House of Commons Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott said the "absence of any proactive action by the British or the French" had meant Christians were left to offer support.
It was left to charities, religious groups and indvs to provide basic services at #Calais camp. I pay tribute to those selfless volunteers pic.twitter.com/f9vBGS4q5l
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) October 24, 2016
Parliament held an emergency debate on the camp at Calais yesterday afternoon.
Some 1,918 residents packed their bags and were taken by bus to 80 accommodation centres on the first day of an evacuation of the so called Jungle.
A demolition team is due to begin dismantling the squalid settlement on Tuesday but bulldozers are not expected to be brought in.
Abbott told the Commons: "In the absence of any proactive action by either the British or the French, those people were at the mercy of people smugglers and criminal gangs, who were in and out of the camp, as I discovered when I visited the camp in January.
"It was left to charities, church groups and individual volunteers to go across and provide basic support and services in the Calais camp.
"I take this opportunity to pay tribute to all those selfless volunteers."
In response the Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: "I have made it such a priority to work with my French counterpart to see the end of that camp and, I believe, the end of the misery that has taken place there.
"Protecting children has always been at the forefront of what we are doing."
