French start tearing down refugee ‘jungle’
CALAIS, France — Carrying their belongings in bags and suitcases, long lines of migrants waited calmly in chilly temperatures Monday to board buses in the French port city of Calais, as authorities began evacuating the squalid camp they call home.
French authorities began a complex operation to shut down the makeshift camp known as “the jungle,” uprooting thousands who made treacherous journeys to escape wars, dictators or poverty and dreamed of building new lives in Britain.
Closely watched by more than 1,200 police, the first of hundreds of buses began transferring migrants to reception centers around France where they can apply for asylum.
The camp will then be leveled in a weeklong operation. Hotels and even castles are among the hundreds of buildings officials have been converting to migrant housing.
Authorities say the camp holds nearly 6,500 migrants who are seeking to get to Britain.
Aid groups say there are more than 8,300. The ramshackle camp in the sand dunes of northern France is home to migrants from Afghanistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Syria and elsewhere.
After often harrowing journeys across land and treacherous seas, paying smugglers along the way, most reach a dead end in Calais, unable to find a way across the English Channel. The harsh reality of the move hit migrants on Monday.
Some were happy to leave, others were confused or in shock. Throngs of migrants lined up at the registration center where they were separated by category, like families, unaccompanied minors or adults.
Basic information was lacking for many.
“What should I do?” asked a 14-yearold newly arrived Afghan.
Mahmoud Abdrahman, 31, from Sudan, said he’d go Tuesday. “I need peace,” he said, “anywhere.”