But refugees came to the rescue and chased away the knife-wielding attackers

Video footage of a Dutch journalist being mugged at the Calais refugees’ camp has been posted on YouTube.

Teun Voeten was filmed by his colleague Maaike Engels as three men, one of them wielding a knife, attacked him.

“I’ve done a lot of work in war zones and crime-ridden areas around the world, so I wasn’t surprised about the mugging,” he told The Local. “But it wasn’t a pleasant moment.”

The attackers, who appeared to be trying to take Voeten’s camera, were chased away by other people living in the new jungle camp. Although the trio took his notebook, they threw away during the chase.

Voeten praised Engels. “She reacted very well,” he said. “When one came at her with the knife she just kicked him.” He also paid tribute to refugees who “came to our rescue” and “scared the thieves away.”

There was some criticism of Voeten and Engels for posting the video because rightwingers used it as an argument about the supposed dangers of refugees.

But the journalists say they have no regrets about publishing it. Voeten said: “We put it online because it’s a perfect representation of refugees in general. You have good refugees and bad refugees. The bad ones were robbing us while the good ones were rescuing us.

“We have provided enough context. We have huge problems with self-censorship, and disagree with withholding information from the public for fear they are not mature enough to handle it.”

The journalists were working on an extended version of a their documentary entitled “Calais: welcome to the jungle”. A short version has already been screened.

The new jungle camp in Calais is home to around 4,000 refugees, most of whom hope to cross the Channel to the UK.

Dutch journalist mugged by men at Calais refugees' camp