The crisis echoes that of the Calais migrant camp, which was closed down for the second time in 2016

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The crisis echoes that of the Calais migrant camp, which was closed down for the second time in 2016 after thousands of people, largely from Eritrea, Sudan and Libya, slowly built a shanty town on land near the port so they could make bids for Britain.

The Calais migrants were dispersed to reception centres across the country but many have been drawn to the capital.

Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said police were preparing to dismantle the sprawling camps.

But a dispute is bubbling between the government and Paris’ left-wing mayor Anne Hidalgo, who disagree over how to treat migrants and their long-term reception.

Mr Collomb said he had “taken note of” and deeply “regretted” Mrs Hidalgo’s “refusal to take the necessary steps to allow police to evacuate the migrants”, adding the situation would “go on forever” if Paris officials did not “take all necessary measures to stop new tent camps from forming”.