France: ‘Page turned’ as thousands leave Calais ‘Jungle’ in flames

"We're telling them it's the last day, that if they don't leave the police will arrest them and send them back to their countries," said Enrika, who works for the Lithuanian Charity Care for Calais.

Calais, Oct 26 (AFP): French authorities were wrapping up today a dramatic operation to clear thousands of migrants from the notorious “Jungle” camp as fires engulfed the sprawling slum. “It’s really the end of the Jungle today,” said top regional official Fabienne Buccio. “A page has been turned.” Riot police were massed outside the main entrance to the camp near the port of Calais, barring migrants who had fled the blazes from going back in to retrieve their belongings. Around 100 people could still be seen inside the Jungle late today afternoon as volunteers tried to persuade the migrants to leave.

“We’re telling them it’s the last day, that if they don’t leave the police will arrest them and send them back to their countries,” said Enrika, who works for the Lithuanian Charity Care for Calais. Risking their lives to reach Calais with the hope of sneaking across the Channel to Britain, most of the migrants had fled conflict or persecution in countries such as Eritrea, Sudan and Afghanistan. “We left our nations behind us in flames, only to find the Jungle go up in flames too,” said Aziz Yaacoub, a 25-year-old from the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur.

The authorities have said those who agree to be moved can seek asylum in France. Buccio said more than 5,000 migrants had left the camp by today afternoon, most boarding buses to head to shelters around France, and expected the departures to total “at least 6,600” by the end of the day. (ALSO READ: ‘No camps in France’, vows Francois Hollande, under right wing pressure)

Estimates of the camp’s population ranged between 6,400 and 8,100 before the operation began Monday. Upwards of 1,000 unaccompanied children are being housed temporarily at an on-site park of specially fitted — and heated — shipping containers. Aid workers said the camp was full, with Samuel Hanryon, spokesman for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), warning that dozens of “unregistered minors are wandering around, lost, wondering where they will spend the night”.

Head of France Terre d’Asile, Pierre Henry, whose organisation is tasked with the care of minors in the evacuation, confirmed that their registration had been interrupted. “There is no more space in the container camp,” Henry said.

The fate of unaccompanied minors has been a key cause of concern on both sides of the Channel, leading to testy exchanges between the French and British authorities. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said yesterday that all minors “with proven family links in Britain” would eventually be transferred there.