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Operation to clear Calais refugee camp finishes ahead of schedule Concern grows for welfare of children as Calais camp cleared
(about 1 hour later)
The operation to clear people from the refugee camp in Calais has finished ahead of schedule, French authorities have said. The operation to clear residents from the sprawling makeshift refugee camp at Calais has finished ahead of schedule, French authorities have said, though charities said they were concerned for the welfare of children who remain in the area.
“There are no more migrants in the camp. Our mission has been fulfilled,” said Fabienne Buccio, a local official.“There are no more migrants in the camp. Our mission has been fulfilled,” said Fabienne Buccio, a local official.
The announcement came after a number of fires swept through the settlement outside the French port town on the third day of the operation to clear it. Government buses taking refugees and migrants to relocation centres across France will stop at the end of the day on Wednesday, and demolition of the camp will be speeded up on Thursday, with larger machinery moving in, officials said.
A huge plume of dark grey smoke could be seen from a distance billowing over the sprawling camp, which has become a symbol of Europe’s migrant/refugee crisis, as makeshift shelters that were recently homes burned. The fires were blamed on disgruntled camp residents. Tents and shelters were set ablaze as queuing continued for official registration to be resettled at the accommodation centres where many refugees hope to be able to claim asylum.
On Wednesday morning, workers wearing hard hats and orange overalls resumed tearing down tents and makeshift shelters. Riot police had cordoned off the demolition area while aid workers and government officials checked the dwellings were empty. So far more then 5,000 people, who had come to Calais hoping to reach the UK, have been bussed out of the camp.
Others carted away the debris and abandoned belongings, including mattresses, multi-coloured blankets and supermarket trollies, in small earth-movers. Gas canisters, sinks, refrigerators and other metal objects lay scattered on the ground. Save the Children said it was “extremely concerned” about children who had not been registered as parts of the camp went up in flames. About 100 children were still in the queue when the registration centres were “swiftly” closed, the charity said.
The demolition operation will be scaled up on Thursday, with larger machinery moving in, an official said. Converted shipping containers set up near the camp to house children were full, and “hundreds” of children remained outside with nowhere to go, the charity added.
There were also fires overnight, which spread hours after workers moved in on Tuesday to begin dismantling the camp, formerly home to an estimated 6,000-8,000 migrants and refugees, many of whom hoped to reach Britain. A Syrian man was taken to hospital with injuries to his eardrums after a gas canister exploded in the flames. Help Refugees said it had reports of up to 300 unaccompanied children being turned away from the registration centres with nowhere to stay. In a Facebook post it said children were being asked to return to the camp, parts of which were on fire and not safe. It said volunteers were trying to find places for the children to stay.
A local official played down the blazes, telling Agence France-Presse: “It’s a tradition among communities who set fire to their homes before leaving.” Riot police and fire crews moved quickly to extinguish fires as those departing set tents and shelters ablaze, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The fires were blamed on disgruntled camp residents.
Starting on Monday, adults have been transferred to centres around France and unaccompanied minors have been moved to shipping containers converted into temporary shelters in the camp, the interior ministry said. Pascal Brice, head of the Office for Refugees and Stateless People, told the Press Association: “The operation will be over tonight because all the people who were leaving the Jungle are now welcomed in France, in good conditions in accommodation centres.
The authorities have said those who agree to be moved can seek asylum in France. Those who refuse risk deportation. The fate of more than 1,000 unaccompanied minors is of particular concern. “It is a matter of satisfaction for the French administration because all those people now are in centres all around France and the Jungle is over.”
The French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said on Tuesday that all those with proven family links in Britain would eventually be transferred and that the UK had committed to reviewing all other cases where it was in the child’s interest to settle across the Channel. As French authorities indicated everyone in the camp had been registered, people could still be seen walking with their belongings towards the registration centre.
There were four arrests, the Calais police commissioner, Patrick Visser-Bourdon, said.
Hamid, 30, from Afghanistan, who said he had been among those setting fire to shelters, told Reuters news agency: “We don’t care about problems that are to come after this. We did it because we don’t want to stay in France. We want to go to England and England only. It doesn’t matter if I go to jail here.”
In London around 100 demonstrators, including the model Lily Cole, called on Britain to help more children caught up in the camp’s demolition. Protestors took to the Millennium Bridge, near St Paul’s Cathedral, carrying placards and large red hearts, urging the immediate resettlement of more children from the camp.