The French government plan to close the Calais migrants’ camp also known as the jungle on the outskirt of Paris commenced yesterday.
About 7,500 beds are being made available in 450 centres across France. So far migrants have been taken to seven regions including Auvergne – Rhone-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comte, Brittany and Nouvelle Aquitaine.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is still pushing for Britain to take most of the 1,300 unaccompanied children in the camp. “The United Kingdom will welcome every isolated minor in Calais whose family ties in Britain have been established. The British authorities are also committed to studying cases of unaccompanied minors who do not have any family ties but who have a strong interest in joining the country,” he said.
Yesterday saw 2,300 people, mainly of Sudanese and Eritrean origins, were taken from the camp on 40 coaches to temporary accommodation around France; but at least 5,000 still remain.
There are concerns that those who still harbour dreams of getting to Britain might refuse to leave. The French government has warned that “police might be forced to intervene” if there is any unrest once the camp is dismantled.
Many of the migrants who have been living in Calais are from countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Eritrea and had wanted to reach Britain, which is connected to France by a rail tunnel.
Some had wished to join up with relatives already there and most had planned to seek work, believing that jobs are more plentiful than in France.
As it becomes more difficult to reach the UK, people smugglers are now charging ‘clients’ from sub-Saharan Africa £3500 to get across the Channel. Jaoued Belmir, head of France’s Officer of Immigration and Integration, said it was leading to a situation where “most of them do not have the means to pay the smugglers.”
He added: “Because the border with England has been sealed gradually, prices have risen”, and now a zero tolerance approach to Calais migrants was coming into place.
Britain bars most of them on the basis of European Union rules requiring them to seek asylum in the first member states they set foot in.
While many in the UK support the government’s tough stance on immigration, some UK MPs have criticized its attitude to the migrants and the lack of help or understanding given to those living in camp.
