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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/23/france-prepares-to-demolish-calais-refugee-camp
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| France prepares to demolish Calais refugee camp | France prepares to demolish Calais refugee camp |
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| French authorities are expected to start demolishing the refugee camp at Calais early on Monday despite concerns about the safety of children and vulnerable adults living there. | French authorities are expected to start demolishing the refugee camp at Calais early on Monday despite concerns about the safety of children and vulnerable adults living there. |
| Sixty buses are due to remove 3,000 people to accommodation centres across France, with the exercise to be repeated again on Tuesday and Wednesday. | Sixty buses are due to remove 3,000 people to accommodation centres across France, with the exercise to be repeated again on Tuesday and Wednesday. |
| Thousands of leaflets are being distributed in the camp this weekend, telling those living there that they must leave. | Thousands of leaflets are being distributed in the camp this weekend, telling those living there that they must leave. |
| The planned demolition comes despite British charities and MPs telling the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, they have “very serious worries” about the security and wellbeing of many of the thousands of people – including an estimated 1,300 unaccompanied children – living in the camp. | The planned demolition comes despite British charities and MPs telling the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, they have “very serious worries” about the security and wellbeing of many of the thousands of people – including an estimated 1,300 unaccompanied children – living in the camp. |
| “We fear that the resources currently being deployed and the proposed responses are insufficient to ensure the effective protection of the most vulnerable, notably unaccompanied children,” said a letter from signatories including Save the Children, the Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee UK, as well as 60 MPs and several peers. The letter said there was a lack of clear information from French authorities about the future of the camp’s inhabitants. | |
| The letter asks for all unaccompanied minors to be found shelter before the demolition starts, for a designated “safe zone” to be created in the camp during the dismantlement, and that anyone eligible to join family in Britain be identified. | The letter asks for all unaccompanied minors to be found shelter before the demolition starts, for a designated “safe zone” to be created in the camp during the dismantlement, and that anyone eligible to join family in Britain be identified. |
| Unicef UK’s deputy executive director Lily Caprani said: “Once the demolition starts there are no second chances. If it results in a single child going missing, or forces them into the hands of smugglers and traffickers, then we will have failed them.” | Unicef UK’s deputy executive director Lily Caprani said: “Once the demolition starts there are no second chances. If it results in a single child going missing, or forces them into the hands of smugglers and traffickers, then we will have failed them.” |
| Closing the camp is expected to take a week. | Closing the camp is expected to take a week. |
| Cazeneuve has pledged that all remaining migrants at the site will be given “dignified” shelter after the camp is cleared. | Cazeneuve has pledged that all remaining migrants at the site will be given “dignified” shelter after the camp is cleared. |
| The first child refugees from Calais arrived in the UK on Saturday night under a government promise to help unaccompanied minors announced in May, and more are expected to follow on Sunday. | The first child refugees from Calais arrived in the UK on Saturday night under a government promise to help unaccompanied minors announced in May, and more are expected to follow on Sunday. |
| The Right Rev Jonathan Clark, bishop of Croydon and spokesman for the charity Citizens UK, welcomed the action but added: “Of course this is just a very small proportion of the unaccompanied children out there and less than 1% of the total number of people in the Calais camp now, the vast majority of whom will be claiming asylum in France as they should.” | The Right Rev Jonathan Clark, bishop of Croydon and spokesman for the charity Citizens UK, welcomed the action but added: “Of course this is just a very small proportion of the unaccompanied children out there and less than 1% of the total number of people in the Calais camp now, the vast majority of whom will be claiming asylum in France as they should.” |
| The Care4Calais founder Clare Moseley said she feared that unofficial migrant camps would spring up once the demolition was completed, leaving people without basic sanitary conditions or access to interpreters and legal advice. | |
| However, the Conservative MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, said the camp must never be allowed to re-emerge: “The ‘Jungle’ must be fully dismantled – never to return. This time they need to see it through. We must end the Calais migrant magnet.” | However, the Conservative MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, said the camp must never be allowed to re-emerge: “The ‘Jungle’ must be fully dismantled – never to return. This time they need to see it through. We must end the Calais migrant magnet.” |