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Version 12 Version 13
Calais refugee camp: first buses leave as police prepare for demolition – live Calais refugee camp: hundreds leave on buses as clearance operation begins – live
(35 minutes later)
12.44pm BST
12:44
900 migrants depart Calais
The number of migrants who have left the Calais camp today continues to rise, according to BBC News producer Piers Scholfield:
Now up to 900 departed on 23 buses. #Calais
#Calais prefect says 60 buses should leave today. Would be approx 2,500 people if they continue at the same rate.
12.36pm BST
12:36
Angelique Chrisafis has tweeted this picture from Calais:
#calais afghans waiting 4 bus to pays de loire, had board game of how to get to UK, would apply for asylum in France pic.twitter.com/xVR0OY6M8v
12.31pm BST
12:31
The Tory MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, fears a surge of migrants will try to cross the Channel after the Calais camp is finally closed.
A vocal opponent of the sprawling site, he says border security must now be stepped up: “People will be more desperate than ever to see if they can break into Britain.”
He welcomed the creation of an immigration “gold command” in Kent: “It shows that the authorities are taking the risk seriously and I hope the dismantling of the ‘jungle’ continues to go off peacefully as it has so far.”
Elphicke’s constituency could become the first calling point for migrants seeking to enter the UK following calls last week from French presidential hopeful Alain Juppe for the border to be moved back to the British side of the Channel.
“Whatever happens, we need to be prepared for every eventuality and we need to take control. That means we need to invest in the Dover controls, intelligence, security on the English channel, as well as better roads to Dover,” the MP said. “It is in the interests of Dover and Calais that Britain and France work together to end the Calais migrant magnet.”
Updated
at 12.33pm BST
12.10pm BST12.10pm BST
12:1012:10
Home affairs editor Alan Travis is also monitoring events from London today:Home affairs editor Alan Travis is also monitoring events from London today:
Home Office say the transfer of Calais children to Britain has been 'temporarily paused' at French request due to camp clearanceHome Office say the transfer of Calais children to Britain has been 'temporarily paused' at French request due to camp clearance
11.57am BST11.57am BST
11:5711:57
Angelique ChrisafisAngelique Chrisafis
Angelique Chrisafis is also inside the processing centre hangar. She reports that for some people the choice of destination is more or less arbitrary.Angelique Chrisafis is also inside the processing centre hangar. She reports that for some people the choice of destination is more or less arbitrary.
#calais a lone Sudanese man who doesn't know France picks Normandy on a map, gets blue wristband, waits for bus#calais a lone Sudanese man who doesn't know France picks Normandy on a map, gets blue wristband, waits for bus
UpdatedUpdated
at 11.57am BSTat 11.57am BST
11.51am BST11.51am BST
11:5111:51
Lisa O'CarrollLisa O'Carroll
We’ve just been given access to the hangar where migrants are being asked to queue up for their place on a bus and hopefully a fresh start on life, Lisa O’Carroll reports.We’ve just been given access to the hangar where migrants are being asked to queue up for their place on a bus and hopefully a fresh start on life, Lisa O’Carroll reports.
While it is quite intense it is orderly. Migrants are shown a map of the regions of France and asked to say where they want to go. This man is happy with Normandy.While it is quite intense it is orderly. Migrants are shown a map of the regions of France and asked to say where they want to go. This man is happy with Normandy.
11.47am BST11.47am BST
11:4711:47
The port of Calais, the closest point between Britain and continental Europe, has for more than 15 years been a magnet for refugees and migrants who want to start a new life in this country.The port of Calais, the closest point between Britain and continental Europe, has for more than 15 years been a magnet for refugees and migrants who want to start a new life in this country.
Here is a potted history of some major episodes in the development of the migrant camps around the city.Here is a potted history of some major episodes in the development of the migrant camps around the city.
11.34am BST11.34am BST
11:3411:34
600 people bussed away from Calais camp by 11.30am600 people bussed away from Calais camp by 11.30am
By 11:30, 600 refugees & migrants had left by bus to places including burgundy, north eastern France, western France #calaisBy 11:30, 600 refugees & migrants had left by bus to places including burgundy, north eastern France, western France #calais
UpdatedUpdated
at 11.35am BSTat 11.35am BST
11.31am BST11.31am BST
11:3111:31
Our reporters have arrived back at the processing queues and say that all is now calm in the area. We will keep an eye on the situation.Our reporters have arrived back at the processing queues and say that all is now calm in the area. We will keep an eye on the situation.
11.24am BST11.24am BST
11:2411:24
The Press Association has filed a few lines on the unrest among people waiting to be processed and transferred away from Calais. Details of what is happening are still very patchy, but according to this PA update from just after 11am:The Press Association has filed a few lines on the unrest among people waiting to be processed and transferred away from Calais. Details of what is happening are still very patchy, but according to this PA update from just after 11am:
Dozens of riot police marched in to control the queue, as people started to push and shove at the front just before midday.Dozens of riot police marched in to control the queue, as people started to push and shove at the front just before midday.
While a few punches were thrown in scuffles, most of the crowd waited patiently inside the barriers which police then spread out to give them more space.While a few punches were thrown in scuffles, most of the crowd waited patiently inside the barriers which police then spread out to give them more space.
Police have formed a barrier to prevent people queuing from behind from joining the fray until the situation becomes less volatile.Police have formed a barrier to prevent people queuing from behind from joining the fray until the situation becomes less volatile.
Our video team has taken the footage from the tweet below and republished it the right way round.Our video team has taken the footage from the tweet below and republished it the right way round.
UpdatedUpdated
at 11.34am BSTat 11.34am BST
11.15am BST
11:15
Scuffles reported as police surround queueing evictees
Refugee Info Bus, a charity working with migrants at the Calais camp, reports that tensions are rising in the registration queues. The organisation has tweeted video, unfortunately on its side, that seems to show scuffles breaking out between evictees and French police.
Lack of #info & #organisation leading to panic. #unnaccompaniedminors caught up in this. pic.twitter.com/mLEG8Z7DJu
People have been kettled outside the registration warehouse. #police and #CRS surrounding them. pic.twitter.com/fCjVnexSfP
People are being kettled in the registration area, meaning tensions are rising. pic.twitter.com/FoLVSQA1OY
Confusion and people being turned away from queues as they try to register to leave the #calaisjungle pic.twitter.com/PkVdunAsQw
Updated
at 11.26am BST
11.07am BST
11:07
A charity working to help people living in the Calais camp has just reported that the registration line for unaccompanied children has been closed. I’ve asked our reporters on the ground if they are able to find out any more details.
The registration line for children has just been closed. #Unaccompaniedchildren have been told to "come back tomorrow". 👧🏾👦🏿
This tweet, from a second group working with people in the camp, shows some of the tear gas canisters fired during unrest there in recent days.
An assortment of some of the #teargas canisters fired throughout the #calaisjungle the past days #acab #policeviolence pic.twitter.com/pLnJ136Z59
10.55am BST
10:55
Demonstrations against the closure of the Calais camp and the treatment of the people there are planned in several French towns and cities today and later this week.
Rallies are slated to start at about 6pm local time today in Brest, Chateaubriant, Nantes, Paris, Rennes and Toulouse. Tomorrow there will be a demonstration in Dijon and on Friday protesters will gather in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins.
Read more at squat.net.
10.51am BST
10:51
Pain? Fever? Cough? Written beside shack where Syrians had been living in #Calais camp pic.twitter.com/6093WDAqCS
10.35am BST
10:35
Lisa O'Carroll
Cynics on social media have been commenting on the apparent lack of any visible minors pictured boarding buses or navigating their way through the Calais camp evacuation. This tweet from my colleague Lisa O’Carroll suggests why:
Kids been given these badges to stop photos been taken getting in or off the buses. This is a 13 year old boy pic.twitter.com/ycISGrQMRu
However, it has not stopped her from tweeting this unidentifiable photo of a youngster being chaperoned towards processing centres ahead of their evacuation from the camp.
Some of the first children - these two look like seven years old - taken to the processing centre. pic.twitter.com/HQzWJWEzdQ
10.29am BST
10:29
'My wife prays we can be together one day'
Angelique Chrisafis
Among people remaining in the camp, adults with family in the UK were concerned if they would ever be able to be together again, Angelique Chrisafis reports.
Tafsu, 48, a carpenter who had fled violence in Eritrea had a wife and two children in London. He said he hadn’t seen his 16 year-old son for nine years. He had never met his 9-year-old daughter. When he last saw his wife, in Sudan, she was pregnant.
“I don’t know what the future holds. I want to explain my case but I can’t get heard. The children here are beginning to be heard. What about us, people with children, separated from our sons and daughters?”
He was weighing up what to do. Trying to stow away to England had proved impossible, he said. He was considering whether to join the queue of people leaving on buses to reception centres around France, to be processed in France and hope to join his family at a later point. ‘My wife just prays we can be together one day.’
Updated
at 10.29am BST
10.08am BST
10:08
The controversy over the UK’s work - or lack thereof - to process and resettle refugees is the important subtext to today’s evacuation of the Calais migrant camp. Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said:
The treatment of the refugees in Calais is disgraceful. The refugees should have been processed and checked before any dispersal and destruction of the camp.
It seems certain that people who have a right to refugee status, or asylum, in either France or in this country, will be denied. Children will now be even more vulnerable to people traffickers, or worse.
The British government has failed in its duties, foot-dragging through the whole process. It should be protecting people who have a right to come here, not colluding in this process.
10.01am BST
10:01
Lisa O'Carroll
Migrants get color coded wrist bands before heading up to warehouse at least a mile away t be processed. pic.twitter.com/KMLtI50Mm8
9.59am BST
09:59
We have just published an opinion piece by a panel of four writers giving their verdict on the evacuation of the Calais camp. The most poignant comes from Hassan Akkad, a Syrian who fled his country in 2012 and spent two months living rough in Calais before arriving in Britain.
I spent two months in Calais before I arrived in the UK, and now I have come back, as a volunteer and a documentary-maker. No one should have to live like this. Now the autumn is here it is raining frequently and there are no proper shelters, so it’s a mud bath. But if they are going to demolish this place there needs to be another option for people.
There are about 10,000 people living in Calais right now. No one knows what is going to happen to them when the camp closes. These are people who have already fled their homes, and now they are living with uncertainty again.
It is thought that about 1,000 of the people in “the jungle” are children. I would say 25% of people here have already claimed asylum in France, but have not been given anywhere to go. The rest still want to go to the UK. So if the government tries to bus them to other parts of France and detention centres, they won’t want to go.
I think some people will set up smaller camps, like in Dunkirk. But this will make it harder for charities to help them. People hate “the jungle”; no one could call it home – but closing it will just make things worse.
Updated
at 10.01am BST
9.56am BST
09:56
Angelique Chrisafis
Angelique Chrisafis has sent a fresh dispatch from Calais, where she has been spending the morning watching the evacuation.
Inside the camp, as scores of men left carrying bags of blankets, some still stood by tents working out what to do in the next few days. Aid groups estimated that around 2,000 people had left the camp of their own accord in recent weeks and that squats would spring up in the Calais area as some refugees and people still hoped there was a way to make it to Britain.
Awad, 31, a Sudanese refugee, was waiting to be processed and get on one of the first buses to a reception centre in France. He said: ‘I love the uk but the uk doesn’t want refugees.’
He felt learning French might be hard but he was relieved to be claiming asylum in France and leaving the Calais camp after six months there. ‘I feel good about leaving the jungle. I don’t know what will happen or where I will be sent today. But if I can choose I might choose the south. I’ve heard it’s warmer there.’
All he had seen of France were the views from trains as he travelled up from Italy months before. ‘I hope to start a new life that is better than Calais,’ he said.