Bulldozers move in at Calais ‘jungle’
Print Edition
FRENCH authorities began dismantling half of the “Jungle” migrant camp in the northern port city of Calais yesterday.
Two bulldozers and around 20 workers began destroying makeshift shacks, with 30 police cars and two anti-riot vans stationed nearby.
The situation was mostly calm, although one member of the British “No Borders” activist group was arrested.
The move was a shock for volunteers and aid workers who have spent months trying to improve conditions in the grim camp, built on a former toxic waste dump on the outskirts of the town.
“We didn’t think that it would happen with so many police. It’s infinitely sad to see the waste of so much work that we’ve done in the past months,” said Maya Konforti of the Auberge des Migrants charity.
“These people want to reach Britain and won’t leave. They will end up in even more hardship, particularly in winter,” she said.
Thousands have gathered in the shanty town, hoping to sneak onto lorries and ferries to Britain.
Local authorities, who have promised that no one will be evacuated by force, say 3,700 people live in the camp, and that between 800 and 1,000 will be affected by the eviction.
But charities say a recent census they conducted counted at least 3,450 people in the southern part alone, including 300 unaccompanied children.
The evicted migrants have been offered heated accommodation in refitted containers set up next door to the camp, but many are reluctant to move there because they lack communal spaces and movement is restricted.
They have also been offered places in some 100 reception centres dotted around France.
The demolition comes ahead of talks on Thursday between French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
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