Calais Migrant Camp Clearance Begins as French Police Move Into the ‘Jungle’ Migrants to be dispersed to shelters around France By Noemie Bisserbe

Posted By on October 25th, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/french-authorities-begin-clearing-jungle-migrant-camp-in-calais-1477299232

PARIS—Local police and aid workers in France on Monday began clearing a sprawling camp along the English Channel that has become a symbol of Europe’s failure to manage the flow of migrants across its borders.

As police stood by, scores of migrants carrying their possessions in bundles lined up to board buses parked outside the camp, known as the Jungle.

 A three-day operation is planned to clear the sprawling shantytown. philippe huguen/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The current ‘Jungle’ dates from April 2015. It housed more than 10,000 migrants at its peak. philippe huguen/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Migrants, carrying their belongings, walk to an official meeting point set up by the French authorities as part of the camp’s evacuation. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Migrants queue outside a hangar where they will be sorted into groups and put on buses that will take them to shelters across France. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Police officers control a queue as migrants line up to register at a processing center in the makeshift camp. Associated Press
Migrants wait to board a bus for their evacuation. European Pressphoto Agency
Migrants queue at the start of their evacuation from the camp in Calais and transfer to reception centers across France. pascal rossignol/Reuters

The migrants are each given a choice of two French regions they can go to—for example, Brittany or Nouvelle Aquitaine. Based on that choice, migrants are given a color-coded bracelet that assigns them to a bus headed to that region, authorities said.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said 1,918 migrants were transferred from Calais to 80 shelters across France on Monday.

“The first step was completed peacefully, and we are now going to continue our work,” Mr. Cazeneuve said.

But it remains uncertain how many of the estimated 7,000 to 10,000 migrants in the camp are willing to abandon their goal of living and working in the U.K.

French authorities have said they don’t want to use force to relocate the camp’s inhabitants but warned they might reconsider if the migrants refuse to leave.

After the camp is emptied of its several thousand inhabitants by the end of the week, the tents and makeshift shelters that spread across Calais’ windswept dunes will be razed, French officials said.

In dismantling the camp, the Socialist government of President François Hollande hopes to resolve a crisis that has illustrated Europe’s struggle to cope with the flow of people fleeing conflicts in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa.

The camp became an emblem of the U.K.’s resistance to the recent surge. Migrants seeking passage to the U.K. from France met British opposition, which was reinforced by the country’s vote to leave the European Union. Thousands of migrants became mired in Calais, living in sordid conditions and dragging down the local economy.

Previous attempts to resolve the Calais crisis, including an attempt to dismantle part of the Jungle in February, have failed because France lacked a comprehensive plan for relocating the camp’s occupants.

 

Earlier this year, French authorities created a temporary shelter for about 1,500 migrants adjacent to the Jungle. CONTINUE AT SITE

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