Imminent closure
Hollande vows to shut down ‘jungle’ migrant camps.
tours: French president Francois Hollande, under pressure from the right wing, stepped up his pledge to combat illegal migration, vowing to dismantle a squalid settlement near Calais and prevent similar camps from becoming established.
“There will be no camps in France,” said Hollande, two days ahead of a maiden visit to the notorious “Jungle” settlement near Calais, where between 7,000 and 10,000 desperate migrants live.
The Socialist leader spelt out promises to “completely dismantle” the Jungle on Saturday and set up “reception and orientation centres around the country” to accommodate asylum-seekers.
Hollande’s government has vowed to scrap the Jungle “before winter” and a flurry of preparations underway there suggest the operation may begin shortly.
Migration has been a low-key issue under Hollande’s four-yearold presidency.
But he has been forced to take a visible stance on the issue, under pressure from his conservative predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, who is hoping to make a comeback as president, as well as far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Each are promoting platforms of security, patriotism and national interest in early campaigning for next year’s elections.
“We will provide a humane, dignified welcome to people who will file for asylum,” Hollande said.
“Those whose request has been rejected will be escorted out of the country. Those are the rules and they are fully aware of them.”
Hollande noted that France would accept 80,000 asylum-seekers this year, a fraction of that accepted by Germany.
Separately, the top administrative office, or prefecture, for the Pas-deCalais region said a Sudanese migrant aged about 30 died late Saturday when he was hit by a freight train near the port of Calais. He was the 13th migrant to die in the Calais area since the start of the year, according to an AFP poll.
Most of the deaths have been people who tried to board trucks heading to Britain via the Channel Tunnel or ferry.