CALAIS, France — A French court on Thursday gave the state the green light to raze tents and lean-tos sheltering hundreds of migrants in a sprawling slum camp in Calais, where thousands dream of getting to Britain. ADVERTISING CALAIS, France
CALAIS, France — A French court on Thursday gave the state the green light to raze tents and lean-tos sheltering hundreds of migrants in a sprawling slum camp in Calais, where thousands dream of getting to Britain.
The camp in the northern port city — known as the “jungle” — has been an embarrassing and often shocking chapter in Europe’s migrant crisis, and the state announced this month that the densely populated southern half would be razed.
Associations protesting the move took the issue to court seeking a postponement of a deadline reached last Tuesday for migrants to move out.
The court in Lille ruled that the makeshift shelters used by the migrants can be destroyed — but that common spaces like places of worship, schools and a library must stand.
Demolition crews have been poised to start what officials say will be a better solution for migrants trapped in Calais with borders all but sealed by increasing security. Officials estimate the number of migrants who will be affected at around 800 to 1,000. Humanitarian organizations say more than 3,000 migrants live there.
Moving the migrants out of the mini-slum will be the most dramatic step by the French state to end Calais’ yearslong migrant problem, which has transformed the northern city into a high-security tension point, fueled far-right sentiment and defied British and French government efforts to make it go away. Critics contend that closing the camp might not solve the problem.
