Migrants began arriving early yesterday at official meeting points set by French authorities as part of the full evacuation of the Calais “Jungle” camp, according to a journalist at the scene
Migrants with their luggage queue to leave the “Jungle” migrant camp on Monday
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France: Migrants began arriving early yesterday at official meeting points set by French authorities as part of the full evacuation of the Calais “Jungle” camp, according to a journalist at the scene.
Men and women carrying suitcases and bundles of possessions gathered in front of a warehouse serving as the headquarters of the operation in which 6,000 to 8,000 migrants will be moved to reception centres across France.
French riot police officers hold back migrants, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais. Pics/AFP
A queue of around 60 people already stretched in front of the closed doors of the operational headquarters, under the glow of streetlights. Dozens of riot police vehicles and other trucks carrying equipment had earlier set
off in the direction of the operation centre.
France’s government has billed the operation to clear the camp as “humanitarian”.
It will allow the closure of the largest shanty town in France, which has grown over the last 18 months, filled with refugees — mostly from Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea — seeking to cross the Channel to get to Britain. The closure of the squalid camp is aimed at relieving tensions in the Calais area, where clashes between the police and migrants trying to climb on to trucks heading to Britain are an almost nightly occurrence.
Around 1,250 police and security officers have been mobilised in order to ensure the smooth rollout of the operation.
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