Scuffles break out at migrant camp as demolition begins
DEMOLITION of the so-called Jungle migrant camp in Calais has begun with heavy duty machinery being used to tear down the ramshackle buildings.
A small yellow bulldozer could be seen crushing the structures and lifting debris into a large red skip.
Workers in orange jumpsuits and white helmets helped by dumping the pallets, fabric and plastics that once housed migrants into the industrial container.
Scuffles broke out in the camp less than an hour after French authorities began a second round of processing refugees and migrants for relocation to other parts of the country.
Some 16 buses transported 656 migrants to six regions in France yesterday morning, the French Interior ministry said.
It was also confirmed that 139 minors were still living in the camp and they have also been processed and relocated across the country.
“Several hundred” more children are expected to arrive from the camp in the next three weeks, Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said.
She told MPs they would be in addition to the 200 children who had already arrived, which included 60 girls, many at risk of sexual exploitation.
Mrs Rudd blamed delays in processing vulnerable children on French officials not granting access to the camp sooner.
Since Monday more than 3,000 migrants and refugees have passed through the registration centre in Calais.
Elsewhere in the camp, the once-bustling main thoroughfare was quiet, withmostoftheshopsand restaurants abandoned.
The earlier spat is thought to have started as unaccompanied minors were being separated from the main queue and taken to the front.
Someone shouted into a loudspeaker: “Sit down, the door is closed. Stop pushing”, while cries of “Help, please help” were heard as people panicked.
Migrants and refugees believed to be minors could be seen crouching down by metal barriers while police formed a protective circle around them.
The gate to the processing centre was temporarily closed while the chaos continued.
A further 85 buses are expected to arrive over the next two days, with officials saying the entire operation will last at least a week.