The writing’s on the wall… graffiti in “the Jungle” reveals all about the intended destination for numerous refugees. “I want to be extremely clear, ” Cazeneuve said on Thursday in Brussels, “what we are doing in Calais is giving protection to all those that have refugee status in France”.
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Following days of legal wrangling, Judge Valerie Quemener made a decision to ignore protests by humanitarian groups and the migrants themselves.
Migrants carry supplies in a camp set outside Calais, in France, Monday Feb. 22, 2016.
The area is dense with shops, cafes, schools and places of worship, built up by migrants and volunteers.
But it is hard to dissuade tired travelers who come to Calais driven by a dream – circulated among migrants, peddled by smugglers. At least 20 have died since late June, according to the prefecture.
Afghan children ride their bicycles in “The Jungle”.
For numerous approximately 4,000 people in the Jungle, reaching Britain either through the Channel Tunnel or via the Port of Calais is the ultimate goal.
Authorities near the Belgian coast intercepted 950 Britain-bound migrants in January, up from 360 in November, the provincial governor of West Flanders said.
The French government said the move aimed at reducing the population of the Jungle to 2,000 people and that it would only affect between 800 and 1,000 people who would be moved into refitted shipping containers set up nearby.
A dismal winter in “The Jungle”. “There was never any question of the French government sending bulldozers on to the site”, he said. Now they want to raze most of the unofficial camp.
Interior minister Jan Jambon said most of the migrants now in Calais, a port in northern France, eventually wanted to get to Britain and would use Belgium as a transit route.
The local authorities had said the demolition of the makeshift houses in the section was expected to begin today.
The same court in Lille ordered the state in November to clean up the camp by adding running water, toilets and rubbish bins. An increasingly bold tactic of migrants trying to sneak into trucks is exasperating drivers.
Police officers on horses patrol the dunes on the French-Belgian border in Adinkerke, Belgium, on We …
A sense of anxiety mounted in the camp ahead of the court ruling.
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Strict border checks should prevent refugees from entering Belgium.
