Refugee groups and charities say ruling has created a sense of panic and raised fears about plight of unaccompanied children

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A French court has given the go-ahead for the demolition of hundreds of tents and wooden shelters housing migrants and refugees in the shanty town outside Calais known as the Jungle.

The eviction is the most dramatic move yet by the French prefecture, which has long argued against the sprawling camp, saying conditions are unsanitary, undignified and represent a security risk.

At a hearing earlier this week, a lawyer for the prefecture argued that policing the camp represented a drain on resources during the state of emergency imposed after the Paris attacks in November.

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The camp, on the outskirts of the French port, is a temporary home to thousands of migrants and refugees who are desperate to enter Britain. Their repeated attempts to stow away on lorries or force their way through the Channel tunnel, has disrupted traffic and forced French police to maintain a large presence.

Refugee groups and charities, who had urged the court in Lille to suspend the threatened eviction until suitable accommodation was found for the camp’s residents, said they would immediately appeal against the ruling it made on Thursday.

Earlier this month, the prefect of the Pas de Calais region, Fabienne Buccio, ordered the evacuation and demolition of the seven-hectare southern part of the camp.

The court ruled that the makeshift shelters could be destroyed but the common areas, such as churches, mosques, schools and medical centres, must remain.

Earlier on Thursday, the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, said the eviction would be gradual.

“It was never a question of evacuating the south zone in a brutal fashion using bulldozers,” he said.

“This would scatter the migrants everywhere across the region.

“We intend to proceed by finding shelter for all those who are in the southern zone at Calais, particularly unaccompanied minors.”

He said a “reception centre” would be set up with women and vulnerable children a priority.

A spokesman for the Pas-de-Calais prefect’s office said: “The order is applicable, except for common social areas, so it won’t be applicable to places such as schools, a theatre and a legal office.”



The prefecture says people are free to go to one of 98 reception centres around France but claims there is sufficient space to house the evictees in 125 newly built heated shipping containers and in tents in the northern part of the camp.

However, the residents have previously expressed reluctance to be housed in the containers, as they have to give their fingerprints to be granted access and because they only have beds, with no communal areas.

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At the camp, refugee groups reported a sense of panic over the ruling and said residents, including unaccompanied children, had begun to leave for Dunkirk.



Help Refugees and L’Auberge des Migrants said they were devastated by the ruling and remained particularly concerned about the plight of 305 unaccompanied children estimated to be living in the camp.

They said: “We are shocked that this verdict will strip refugees of their homes once again without adequate alternative provisions. Our census revealed 3,455 refugees will be evicted and it was stated in court that only 1,156 alternative places are currently available across France.”

There was no proper assessment, safeguarding or alternative provisions for the 305 children, they said.

The groups said their court action had resulted in agreement by the French authorities to allow the social structure of the camp to remain, including schools, a library, youth centre and women and children’s centre.

George Gabriel, of Citizens UK, said he was hugely disappointed by the ruling and urged the UK government to reunite unaccompanied children with their families in the UK.

The group, which backed a court case which resulted in four Syrians being allowed to enter the UK from the camp, said it had identified at least 50 further “live” cases of unaccompanied children with relatives in the UK, where they may have a legal right to remain.

”We know that unaccompanied children who have full legal rights to be with their families in the UK are among those who will be displaced and we are concerned for their safely and their futures,” he said.

Many predicted that bulldozing the camp would not solve the problem and that the safety of unaccompanied children would be in jeopardy.

Clare Moseley, of Care4Calais, said: “History has shown that every time they have tried to disperse people it hasn’t worked. Common sense tells you that they are just going to go back to sleeping in fields and smaller camps.”

Caroline Anning, of Save the Children, speaking from the camp, said: “The news is just starting to filter down and people are really nervous. They don’t know where they can go. There is a lack of information. Children have already travelled to the Dunkirk camp, where condions are far worse than here.”

However, British hauliers welcomed the judgment. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) said disruption caused in part by migrants cost the UK freight industry an estimated £750,000 a day last year.

The FTA’s head of European policy, Pauline Bastidon, said: “We appreciate the need for careful consideration as the clearance of the camp could be seen as violating the fundamental rights of the migrants. However, considerations should also be given to the rights of our members to go about their work without fear of violence or intimidation.



“£89bn worth of UK trade passes through the port every year so it’s crucial that a solution is found as a matter of urgency.”

An official deadline for at least 1,000 migrants to leave the southern part of the camp expired on Tuesday. The authorities have said they will use force if necessary to move them to alternative accommodation in the nearby container park and other reception centres.

At the hearing in Lille on Tuesday, a lawyer for the charities told the judge that the prefecture had encouraged refugees to settle on the site, a former rubbish dump, last April and were told they would not be evicted.

The lawyer, Julie Bonnier, argued that the Jungle offered medical and psychological support, with its churches, medical centre, schools and other structures.



• This article was amended on 27 February 2016 to correct the cost of disruption to the UK freight industry caused partly by migrants. It was an estimated £750,000 a day last year, not £89bn for the year. The latter figure is the total annual value of UK trade through Calais.

