Migrant Crisis - Calais 'Jungle' residents urged to leave after ruling Thursday February 25,2016

 

The French authorities are conducting tent-to-tent visits to urge residents at the controversial "Jungle" camp in Calais to leave.

It follows a court decision on Thursday February 25,2016 which approved a government plan to clear the camp.

Authorities say around 1,000 migrants will be affected by the eviction plan for the southern part of the camp.

Overall, more than 3,700 migrants live in the camp, many of whom hope to cross the Channel to reach Britain

Conditions there are squalid and its sprawling presence has become a controversial issue in both France and the UK

Local officials said public areas such as places of worship or schools would not be cleared and that it would be a "humanitarian operation"

On Friday  Feb 26,2016 officials toured the southern part of the camp telling people it was "time to leave", volunteers there said

The Help Refugees charity said 10 adults had taken up the government's option to leave on buses brought to the camp

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the authorities would carry out the court order humanely.

Residents would be relocated to a nearby park of converted shipping containers or other centres within the country

"There was never any question of the French government sending bulldozers on to the site," he said on Thursday Feb 25,2016

Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart said the authorities would also seek to reduce the size of the northern part of the camp in the coming months

This would enable work to start on a project to extend the city's port, she told Reuters news agency.

The Jungle in numbers

• Total camp population is disputed - Calais officials say it houses 3,700 while Help Refugees puts it at 5,497
• Figures for the southern half (facing immediate eviction threat) are estimated at either 800-1,000 or 3,455
• There are 205 women and 651 children (423 unaccompanied), says Help Refugees
• Local government's long-term aim is to have no more than 2,000 migrants living in Calais, says its chief, Fabienne Buccio