Over the Easter recess I joined with three other SNP MPs from the Justice and Home Affairs group and a delegation of experts on refugee matters to bear witness to the conditions and issues in the camps in Calais and Grand-Synthe.

Determined to not be another group of politicians skipping the channel for a photo opportunity, we spent a longer period of time in the camps, speaking with refugees, listening to their voices, volunteering in the camp distribution warehouse and reflecting constructively as a group about what our response would be upon returning to our communities and indeed, Westminster.

There is no denying the fact that Europe faces the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. Yet seventy years later, we have failed to learn from our mistakes and are allowing history to repeat itself once again.

Standing on top of the ‘Syrian sand dunes’ in the middle of the Calais jungle, that message could not be louder. On one side of the Northern camp, tents and make-shift shelters littered the landscape, the first shanty town of the developed Western world. On the other side, the French government’s only response to the crisis other than heightened security measures – white clinical containers costing millions of pounds, stacked on top of each other in a militarised grid system; a concentration camp standing as an oppressive reminder to all those who have fled from persecution and torture.

Further in the distance, a group of young men and unaccompanied minors from Eritrea to Afghanistan and Iran stand silently in a queue, waiting patiently for Tuesday’s hand-out. These young men are refugees or forced migrants who find themselves wholly dependent on the kindness of volunteers and donations from ordinary people across Europe; men from cultures where it is considered shameful to receive charity from others.

The French government with the help of the UK government have succeeded in creating a hostile environment and millions of pounds donated by the UK government has contributed towards tightened border security.

NGOs and volunteers provide the only humanitarian response to the crisis. We spent time with representatives from ‘Help Refugees’ and ‘Médicins Sans Frontières,’ inspiring individuals who haven’t questioned the reasons why people might leave their countries or what the ‘economic impact’ may be, but people who have extended an arm of humanity for the simple fact that they too are human.

However, amidst the relative Government apathy, some French politicians have managed to lead a positive campaign. We met with the mayor of Grand-Synthe, Damien Carème, an unsung hero who has used his influence to speak out against the situation in Grand-Synthe. On multiple occasions he has called for the French government to take positive humanitarian action.

He shared our concerns about the number of unaccompanied minors who are arriving in the camps, the inhumane conditions and the number of people putting their lives at risk in their attempt to get to the UK. He has also helped shape a population in Grand-Synthe who have extended that same arm of friendship as the NGOs and volunteers.

In the last few weeks, the camp in Grand-Synthe was relocated. We drove past the previous settlement where broken tents, shoes and belongings lay forgotten in a mud marsh. In comparing it to the new camp in Grand-Synthe, we felt a little hope. Yet, responding by creating more permanent structures and establishing a community of refugees in limbo is not a solution.

Sitting with a group of Kurdish men, we listened to one man who had lost his entire family in the Mediterranean. Like so many others, he spoke English and he came from a culture where many of the customs and traditions overlap with our own.

Many arriving in France experience animosity and there have been multiple incidences where refugees and migrants have been attacked. When you leave one hostile environment for another, it becomes difficult to call that place home.

Before leaving Calais, I spoke with a man from Afghanistan, who despite having lived in the camp for over a year and risked his life dozens of times to get to the UK, still found the strength to smile.

His words will lead our response and action in Westminster – “there is always hope”.

Alongside my SNP colleagues, I will renew our efforts to push the UK government to act with compassion and do more in its response.

The UK government insists that in taking refugees from the camps closest to the conflict, it will prevent others from making the perilous journey. However, statistics are on the rise once again and as the weather improves, many more people will come.

The UK government’s limited approach will not work. We need to think seriously and constructively about solutions for the thousands of people currently stuck in limbo in the shanty towns of the developed Western world.