Massive Jungle migrant camp to be ‘ razed’
Hollande seeks UK help
French President Francois Hollande said on Monday the sprawling “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais would be dismantled by the end of this year under a plan to spread asylum seekers around the country.
“I have come to Calais to confirm the decision that I took with the government... to dismantle ( the camp) definitively, entirely and rapidly, that means by the end of the year,” Mr Hollande said on his first visit to Calais as president.
Mr Hollande called on British authorities to help in assisting the migrants, most of whom are desperate to reach Britain. “I am determined to see the British authorities play their part in the humanitarian effort that France is undertaking” in Calais, Mr Hollande said, flanked by security forces.
Between 7,000 and 10,000 migrants are currently living in the “Jungle”, the launchpad for their attempts to stow away on lorries heading across the Channel to England. Mr Hollande met the police, local politicians, NGOs and business leaders in the northern port city but was not expected to visit the camp itself.
The Socialist president has been under pressure from rightwing rivals to close down the “Jungle”. A flurry of preparations in Calais suggest the operation to raze the collection of makeshift shelters may begin shortly. The government has said the migrants, who are mostly from Sudan and Afghanistan, will be moved to 164 reception centres around the country “before winter”.
Mr Hollande said Britain’s vote to exit the European Union did not diminish its responsibility for the migrants camped across the Channel.