I’ll shut down camp within weeks, Hollande tells Calais

FRANCOIS Hollande has promised to tear down the squalid Jungle camp within weeks and move its 10,000 migrants to 140 reception centres.

During a visit to Calais today, the French president will tell locals that migrants will be moved in groups of 50 to hubs across France.

They will be allowed to stay in the centres for up to four months to allow them to apply for asylum in France.

Those whose claims are rejected will be deported back to their country of birth, Mr Hollande said.

But during that period, migrants will be allowed the freedom to roam – raising fears that they will simply trickle back to Calais and create ‘micro jungles’.

The socialist president is desperate to speed up plans to close the Jungle before the issue dominates next year’s presidential election campaign.

It follows pledges by his opponents, including former president Nicolas Sarkozy, to send would-be migrants living there straight to Britain.

Images of UK-bound migrants armed with weapons threatening tourists and lorry drivers along the road leading to the Calais ferry terminal have increased pressure on Mr Hollande to take action.

The southern section of the Jungle was demolished last March. Despite this, the number of migrants living in the camp has more than doubled since to around 10,000.

Mr Hollande said his goal is the complete demolition of the Jungle and added: ‘There should be no camps in France’. He will meet officials in Calais today to discuss how the camp will be cleared – but will not venture into it.

Tory MP Charlie Elphicke, a leading campaigner against migrant traffickers, welcomed the announcement but said it must not turn into a ‘French farce’.

‘The French are saying they are going to demolish the Jungle but they need to see it through,’ he said. ‘We can’t have another French farce.

‘The French must take action to take them back to their home nations. It is also high time they dealt with traffickers who threaten tourists and truckers near the port.’

Earlier this month French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the Jungle would be torn down by the end of the year.

However, Mr Hollande appears to have brought forward the time frame amid accusations of inaction from critics.