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In France, more than 1,200 police and officials have begun trying to clear the “Jungle” migrant/refugee camp in Calais. According to the BBC, migrants peacefully waited to be processed. Officially about 7,000 migrants live in the camp. The Help Refugees agency said the final population prior to the demolition was 8,143. Most of the migrants are from Sudan, Eritrea or Afghanistan. Several are from Syria.
“The Jungle is no good,” Abdullah Umar, 24, told the New York Times while waiting in line on the road. Umar is from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region and hoped to apply for asylum in France. “There are problems. Sometimes there’s fighting. And it’s cold. France is a good country. People from France gave me all these clothes.” He proceeded to point to his new suitcase full of clothes.
Sixty buses will take 50 migrants each on the first day, 45 buses on Tuesday and 40 on Wednesday, according to the New York Times. Each migrant will be given a choice between two French regions: The Île-de-France region, which includes Paris, and the island of Corsica are not among the options. Based on that choice, migrants are handed a map and a color-coded bracelet that assigns them to a bus headed to that region, authorities told the Wall Street Journal.
The migrants also have the opportunity to claim asylum. According to CNN, unaccompanied minors and vulnerable youth could be settled in Britain; which is the goal for many hopeful refugees.
Conservative lawmaker David Davies called for dental tests to verify the ages of migrants, telling the BBC that “people are desperate, and they will say what they need to say to get in [to Britain].”
Some commentators believe illegal migrants consider Britain to be a “soft touch” for benefits and a better place to find “black economy” jobs, although studies do not necessarily back up this view. Many believe there is a better prospect of finding work. Others want to enter incognito and remain as illegal workers.
Almost 200 children from the camp have been brought to the UK, some of them under the “Dubs” arrangement, according to UK Home Secretary and British Interior Minister Amber Rudd. According to the BBC, among the 200 children are 60 girls, who were at a high risk for sexual exploitation within the jungle.
In a statement to lawmakers late Monday, Rudd stated British officials would continue to play “an active role” alongside their French counterparts in Calais over the next days and weeks to speed up the transfer of refugee children to the U.K.. Rudd also noted that British officials had carried out interviews with 800 children in the camp over the past week.
The BBC reported that many parts of the camp emptied quickly. By 13:30 local time, 23 buses had left carrying 900 people. Officials have predicted that approximately 2,500 people will leave the camp on Monday, although the actual dismantling and destruction of the camp is expected to start on Tuesday. The whole operation is expected to take three days.
The French interior ministry announced it “does not want to use force, but if there are migrants who refuse to leave, or NGOs who cause trouble, the police might be forced to intervene.”
“The immense majority of migrants present at Calais are eligible for international protection,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
CNN reports that many migrants have refused to leave the camp because of the special location; sitting at one end of the Eurotunnel. This is a direct route to Britain that many have risked their lives trying to flee the jungle. Many refugees have pledged to keep trying to stow away on a truck or to jump onto a train entering the Channel Tunnel; although dozens of refugees and migrants have died in such attempts.
“No one came to Calais because they want Calais,” says Khan, a neatly dressed man from Pakistan. “Everyone here wants England.”
UPDATE OCT. 25
The demolition of the migrant camp started Tuesday. A team of workers pulled down tents, shacks, and other makeshift shelters that were once home to refugees. Riot police also sealed off the entire area carrying shields.
Thousands are still left in the camp, but aid workers walked tent to tent to make sure no one was left inside before workers started destructing homes. According to CNN, The French government aims to get everyone all migrants out within a week or so, and hopes to clear the “Jungle” completely by the end of December.