Clashes erupt in Calais 'Jungle' on eve of removal0:33
Migrants and militant activists in the Calais "jungle" camp burn portable toilets and throw stones at police who respond with tear gas, the night before evacuations are due to begin.
French authorities handed out pamphlets in several languages this week warning of the impending destruction. Picture: AFP PHOTO / DENIS CHARLET
FIRES and clashes have broken out as refugees are bussed to locations around France and the demolition of the notorious “Jungle” begins.
The site near the French border town is home to an estimated 6000-10,000 people including men, women and children from some of the most conflict-wracked countries on earth — Sudan, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Syria among others.
The ramshackle camp filled with mud and donated tents sprung up behind an official refugee centre and has swelled following the 2015 migration crisis.
It’s been the site of hundreds of violent clashes as many desperate to enter the UK via trucks travelling the Channel Tunnel have smashed windscreens, threatened drivers and tried to stowaway on board.
The controversial site has become a sore point for local residents and hot button issue in upcoming French Presidential elections, leading to a pledge by authorities in September to demolish it.
The clearing is expected to take three days. Pictured, migrants wait before boarding buses bound for asylum centres across the country. Picture: AFP PHOTO / DENIS CHARLETSource:AFP
A portable chemical toilet burns as French riot police advance towards the Jungle migrant camp. Picture: Jack Taylor/Getty Images.Source:Getty Images
Overnight, tempers flared as more than 1200 police moved in with images showing burning cars and overturned portable toilets. More than 70 basic shops and eateries inside the camp will also come down.
By Monday morning, hundreds had formed queues for buses bound for reception centres around France where people will be able to apply for asylum.
Some of the estimated 1300 unaccompanied minors in the camp will be assessed to see if they qualify for entry into the UK. Some have already arrived amid furore over the verification process to ensure they are under 18.
One of the refugees in the camp, Aziz, from Darfur in Sudan said he was happy to leave the site he has called home for four months.
The 27-year-old told the Press Association: “I don’t like this place at all because I want to go to a city area.”
“I’m feeling not worried, not happy at all. I never laugh, I never cry. Just nothing, but I want to go from this place.”
“In Sudan there is insecurity, there is war, there is a terrible situation, discrimination ... it is not possible to stay.”
There are an estimated 1300 unaccompanied minors in the camp who are at risk of exposure to criminal gangs, charities say. Picture: AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti.Source:AP
First Calais children arrive in the UK2:07
The first groups of unaccompanied children without links to Britain have arrived in the UK from Calais.