FTA members have reported an increase in violence and unrest with migrants attacking lorries and drivers on a daily basis, with many stating that they are advising their drivers to avoid stopping in areas on the approach to the port and Eurotunnel.
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The government announced earlier this month that most of the Jungle must be cleared by the end of March.
A court official said the Lille Administrative Court ruled on Thursday that French authorities can evict migrants from their tents and lean-tos in the densely populated southern portion of the camp – but cannot entirely raze it. Common spaces like schools and places of worship must be kept in place.
Those living in the camp, mainly from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa, hope to cross the Channel to reach Britain. Afterward, hundreds moved up the coast to set up small camps around Calais.
Belgium’s response was criticized by French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Thursday. Cazeneuve denied that bulldozers and police – who began patrolling this month inside the camp – would flatten the sprawling makeshift settlement. The 17-acre portion of the camp has 3,455 residents, according to humanitarian group Help Refugees.
An official deadline for at least 1,000 migrants to leave the southern part of The Jungle camp expired on Tuesday and authorities have said they will use force if necessary to move them to alternative accomodation in a nearby container park and other reception centres. No time limit was set on what is likely to be a weeks-long process.
Officials said that there would be no “forced expulsions”. He has heard that some inside the camp have already left for other points, including Paris.
George Gabriel, of Citizens UK, said he was hugely disappointed by the ruling and urged the UK government to reunite unaccompanied children with their families in the UK.
Aid agencies say the number of people living there is much higher. And he pointed to the case of a Red Cross-run camp in nearby Sangatte – used during its three-year existence by some 68,000 refugees – that was shut down in 2002. Critics contend that closing the camp may not solve the problem. Truckers have grown exasperated or fearful of increasingly bold migrants trying to sneak rides across the English Channel. Tired travellers come driven by a dream that they will find peace and prosperity in English-speaking Britain. “While this is being seen as a local issue in the Calais region – it has pan-European consequences”. I want to get to England and make a better life.
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“We will be vigilant about what is going to happen in the coming hours, and extremely vigilant about what happens in the coming days”, Bouchart said.
