France and UK at odds over young Jungle camp migrants
Westminster and Paris take opposing views of EU rules
CALAIS, FRANCE // Dozens of youngsters woke under the watchful eyes of riot police yesterday after a cold night outdoors near the Jungle migrant camp in Calais, as France and Britain squabbled over their fate and that of hundreds who want to get to Britain.
Charity workers who offered them food and warm drinks said the youngsters were a sample of the scores of minors who are in limbo since the camp, now being demolished, was cleared of its residents.
The vast site on sandy scrubland, a symbol of Europe’s efforts to deal with a record influx of refugees from warzones such as Sudan and Afghanistan, was emptied this week before bulldozers moved in to flatten it.
Regional officials said that more than 6,000 people were moved out of the squalid camp and transferred to towns throughout France. The focus has moved to more than 1,000 unaccompanied minors who have been billeted in large container-box shelters nearby or have simply not signalled their presence. Many want one thing – transfer to Britain, which is almost visible across the sea from Calais.
French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he was surprised by declarations by his British counterpart Amber Rudd and was counting on London to honour an obligation to take minors from Calais. Ms Rudd said France must protect migrant children still in Calais and suggested at least some of them should remain in France rather than be moved to Britain, which is obliged under European Union law to reunite minors with family there.
“Any child either not eligible or not in the secure area of the camp should be cared for and safeguarded by the French authorities,” Ms Rudd said.
“We understand that specialist facilities have been made available elsewhere in France to ensure this happens,” she said, referring to accommodation France provided for those who agreed to leave the Jungle.
Mr Cazeneuve and the French housing minister said France hoped Britain would “quickly execute its responsibilities to take in these minors, who hope to come to the United Kingdom. This is the best way to give them the protection they are due”.
France reported unsupervised children sleeping rough around the port town since the clear- ance operation began, although 1,451 minors have been housed separately near the camp.
France said Britain has so far taken 274 children from among this group. EU rules say Britain must take in unaccompanied children who have family ties in the country.
An amendment to those rules adopted in Britain this year stated that such minors whose best interests are served by doing so should also be admitted.
Smoke and dust spiralled from the heart of the site yesterday as demolition teams went back to work and one group of youngsters who slept a short walk from there emerged from blankets to take tea and breakfast from charity workers. Abdul Hadi, a 16- year old Afghan , said he had spent 10 months in the Jungle but failed to register with the French authorities for help when the evacuation began on Monday.
“I hope I can get to the UK this week,” he said.
Sylvie Poirier, a helper from the local Auberge des Migrants charity, said the registration centre where migrants were urged to sign up had now closed and that scores of people like Abdul were now roaming the streets, where riot police arrest those they find.