
Migrants housed in a new £6million 'bubble' shelter in Paris have praised its warm showers, well-stocked kitchens and its sports facilities.

The centre, near the Eurostar, opened last week after riot police cleared illegal camps nearby and razed the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais, displacing some 7,000 people.

One of its first residents told MailOnline it was a welcome break from their exhausting ordeal, but said that they may still journey on to Britain.

'It is a perfect place to plan our journeys to Britain,' said Mr Noorzai, from Herat, in Afghanistan, who said he had family in the London area.

New home: The first official refugee camp in the history of Paris has opened opened its doors for the first time – prompting fears that it will become a magnet for thousands of UK-bound migrants. The £6million facility, pictured, will be home to 400 migrants trying to reach the UK

Bubble: A former bus shelter in the north of the French capital, close to the Eurostar hub, the controversial centre is split into eight 'cities' of 50 people and has heating, warm beds, showers, kitchens and even a football pitch

In demand: Migrants queue to get into the the new refugee centre in Paris near the Eurostar tracks leading into Eurostar station. Many there have described it as the perfect base to refuel and plan their final push to reach the UK

New life: Mahmood Noorzai, 23, from Herat, in Afghanistan, has paid more than £10,000 to people smugglers and hid in the back of lorries to get to Paris. He told MailOnline he has never felt closer to his dream of reaching England. 'It is a perfect place to plan our journeys to Britain,' said Mr Noorzai, a married father of three who said he had family in the London area

Heading for Britain: Friends Shikhali Mirzai, 23, left and Aziz Shinwaray, who claims to be 18, right, from Afghanistan, pictured outside the new migrant camp in Paris. Mr Mirzai is an amputee who lost his left leg in a bomb explosion caused by the Taliban – the Islamist fundamentalist group still waging war against the elected government in Afghanistan

Rest stop: Resident Mahmood Noorzai, who has moved into the centre, above, said 'All of us have gone through some very difficult times. We are well looked after by the French – we get three meals a day, a warm bedroom with hot showers and clean bathrooms, and areas where we can play table tennis and football'

Mod cons: The processing centre has room for 400 and includes basic comforts such as hot showers as well as space to play football and get advice on claiming ayslum

Police drop off some new arrivals at the centre. A man is helped from a police van carrying a pushchair. He is one of 400 migrants who are settling into their new home in the French capital

'All of us have gone through some very difficult times. We are well looked after by the French – we get three meals a day, a warm bedroom with hot showers and clean bathrooms, and areas where we can play table tennis and football.

'The information centre here allows us to learn about our rights, including how to claim asylum in the country of our choosing.'

Mr Noorzai told MailOnline he left Herat with friends 10 months ago, initially paying £7,000 to get from Afghanistan to Greece by lorry.

Once he was inside the European Union, thousands more were spent on separate lorry journeys to Italy, and then on to the French capital.

Now he has been quoted £5,000 for the final stretch to Britain, and once there he hopes to bring his wife and three daughters over by plane.

Holding centre: The new arrivals have been staying at the new £6million centre in Paris since it opened its doors for the first time on Thursday. They will use the hot showers, electricity to charge their mobile phones and kitchens to make food

Stop off: Shikhali Mirzai, left, and Mahmood Noorzai, right, both from Afghanistan, pictured outside the new migrant camp in the north of Paris. Mr Noorzai, a father-of-three, told MailOnline he left Herat with friends 10 months ago, initially paying £7,000 to get from Afghanistan to Greece by lorry. Now he has been quoted £5,000 for the final stretch to Britain

New facility: The £6million Paris centre opened its doors for the first time last week, just after CRS riot police helped clear illegal camps nearby in which some 4,000 migrants were sleeping rough

Opened its doors: A week before 'the bubble' opened, the so-called ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais was also razed, so displacing up to 8,000 more migrants. There are fears the new centre will act as a magnet for young migrants attracted to the facilities on offer

‘My aim is to achieve asylum in a country that treats people with dignity,’ said Mr Noorzai. ‘I speak English and have family contacts in London, so of course that is where I want to be.

‘We are all offered a chance to stay in France, but nobody can force us to stay in a country where we have no contacts, and cannot speak the language.’

The £6million Paris centre opened its doors for the first time last week, just after CRS riot police helped clear illegal camps nearby in which some 4,000 migrants were sleeping rough.

The week before, the so-called ‘Jungle’ refugee camp in Calais was also razed, so displacing up to 8,000 more migrants.

Mr Noorzai’s travelling companions include Shikhali Mirzai, also 23, and an amputee who lost his left leg in a bomb explosion caused by the Taliban – the Islamist fundamentalist group still waging war against the elected government in Afghanistan.

Shot stay: Residents of the new centre, pictured, will only be allowed to stay for a limited period of anything between five days and 10 weeks. Those who want to stay in France will be transferred to asylum centres around the country

Arrivals: Aziz Shinwaray, left, an 18-year-old Afghan who comes from a village near Jalalabad, said his finger prints were taken, and now the French authorities are trying to send him back to Bulgaria – his first point of entry into the EU. Shikhali Mirzai, right, has chosen to find accommodation close to the Paris centre, because he fears having to be finger printed inside

The facility will house eight 'cities' of 50 men of all ages, young and old as their temporary residence while they have their applications to remain in France processed. Some are reluctant to register at the centre because they fear that the French authorities will send them back to the first 'safe' country they reached when they arrived in Europe

Like many others, Shikhali has for the moment chosen to find accommodation close to the Paris centre, because he fears having to be finger printed inside.

‘I come to meet my friends here, and to get advice, but I am worried that it is being used to process people, rather than help them on their way. They start taking finger prints very quickly, and that is the time to leave.’

Aziz Shinwaray, who says he is 18, who comes from a village near Jalalabad in Afghanistan, said his finger prints were taken, and now the French authorities are trying to send him back to Bulgaria – his first point of entry into the EU.

A bird's eye view of the centre, a short walk from the Paris Eurostar station and next to a motorway where trucks are driven north towards Calais. The centre opened after the so-called Calais jungle, home to 8,000 was razed by bulldozers

The centre, pictured, is mainly for those who want to remain in France. They stay for between five days and ten weeks before they are relocated either in France, elsewhere in Europe, or back to their home country if their application is unsuccessful

The centre is run by a charity called Emmaus Solidarite, which said it would 'allow men to do all the things they can’t do while living on the street.' The men arrive at the centre in the last week to use the facilities on offer from the French government

As migrants lined up to be accepted into the new £6million facility where they will get to use hot showers, warm beds, kitchens and even a football pitch, people in Paris voiced their anger that the centre had been dumped on their doorstep

‘I have a meeting with the Paris council this week, and am doing everything possible to stop this cruel deportation,’ he said. ‘All I want to do is get to Britain.’

Residents of the new centre will only be allowed to stay for a limited period of anything between five days and 10 weeks.

Those who want to stay in France will be transferred to asylum centres around the country.

A member of Emmaus Solidarite, the charity running the camp, said it would ‘allow men to do all the things they can’t do while living on the street.’

Eight ‘villages’ for 50 people have been built, and there are are 120 full-time workers, and 500 volunteers.

An asylum seeker waits patiently on the metal barrier for the opportunity to move into the holding centre. It has opened after CRS riot police helped to clear some 4,000 migrants who were living in illegal camps nearby

An aerial view of the new centre and its proximity to the railway station with high speed Eurostar trains to the UK can be seen

The centre is surrounded by fences, and includes sophisticated security gates where anyone going in or out, like the migrants pictured, is strictly monitored. Refugees arrived this week with their belongings in plastic bags to stay for up to ten weeks

While the newly-opened camp is only open to men, one for women and children will open in the suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine next year. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said: ‘We are not being naive. This centre will not solve everything, but we finally have a worthy and humane alternative to the street settlements.’

But some migrants say the new Paris facility already resembles a detention centre.

It is surrounded by fences, and includes sophisticated security gates where anyone going in or out is strictly monitored.

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said: ‘We are not being naive. This centre will not solve everything, but we finally have a worthy and humane alternative to the street settlements.’