First group of ‘Calais Jungle children’ arrives in UK

london — The first group of children from the French “Jungle” migrant camp with no connection to Britain have arrived in the country, the Home Office said on Sunday, ahead of the camp’s planned demolition.

They were among around 70 young people who were taken to London from the camp in the northeastern French port town of Calais, the closest point to Britain on continental Europe.

The “Jungle” is home to around 5,700 people, according to official figures. Its demolition is set to begin on Monday.

Last week Britain began taking in children from the “Jungle” who had a family connection in Britain — though some newspapers with photographs of the immigrants questioned whether they were actually minors at all.

They were brought in under the Dublin rules, which require the children to have family resident in Britain.

Under a new legal amendment, a limited number of vulnerable child refugees can also enter Britain, even if they do not have family ties.

“We initially prioritised the transfer of children with family links to the UK, under the Dublin Regulation, and have now started the process of taking in those children without close family links,” said a spokesman for the Home Office interior ministry. —