Shattered dreams
Refugees file into coaches for shelters in France before demolition
A migrant facing a French riot police officer as he holds back migrants being forced to leave the ‘Jungle’ migrant camp in Calais. Authorities are set to begin demolition on the settlement that has served as a launchpad for attempts to sneak into Britain.
CALAIS: Migrants lugging their meagre belongings boarded buses taking them from the Calais “Jungle” under a French plan to raze the notorious camp that has become a symbol of Europe’s refugee crisis.
“Bye Bye, Jungle!” a group of migrants shouted as they hauled luggage through the muddy lanes of the shantytown where thousands from Africa and the Middle East had holed up, desperate to sneak into Britain.
Around 1,200 police officers – some in riot gear – were on hand as scores of Sudanese and Eritrean men queued from dawn outside a hangar to be among the first to be put on coaches for shelters across France.
“We don’t know yet where we are going, but it will obviously be better than the Jungle, which was made for animals not humans,” said Wahid, a 23-year-old Afghan.
The first coachload carrying 50 Sudanese left at about 8.45am, heading for the Burgundy region of east-central France.
By midday, several hundred people were standing in line and 16 buses were already on the road.
As the crowd swelled, police intervened to break up a scuffle and prevent a stampede but the operation was generally proceeding “in a calm and orderly manner”, Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.
Demolition crews yesterday moved in to start tearing down the camp, one of the biggest in Europe where 6,000-8,000 people, among them an estimated 1,300 children, have been living for months.
Officials said they aimed to relocate up to 2,500 people on the first day and complete the operation by tomorrow evening.
On Sunday night, the police fired tear gas during sporadic skirmishes with migrants around the camp.
Riots erupted when the authorities razed the southern half of the settlement in March.
Located on wasteland next to the port of Calais, the Jungle has become a symbol of Europe’s failure to resolve the crisis. It has also strained ties between France and Britain and angered locals in Calais, where police try nightly to repel migrants trying to climb onto trucks heading across the Channel.
As the evacuation got under way some migrants were still clinging to hopes of a new life across the Channel, believing their chances of finding a job and integrating there to be better.
New graffiti on the walls of Jungle shelters and shops reflected the fears of some at seeing Britain slip out of reach.
“I lost my hope,” read one tag. “Is this justice? No,” read another.
Karhazi, a young Afghan, sounded a defiant note: “They’ll have to force us to leave. We want to go to Britain.”