Paris to open its first urban refugee camps this year

The building of the two camps in the capital comes as the government faces pressure to dismantle a swollen shantytown dubbed the “jungle” near the port of Calais, whose inhabitants are blamed by residents for an increase in crime and the ailing local economy.

France will open two centres for refugees as part of plan to better receive thousands of asylum seekers who fled war and poverty in their native countries, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said Tuesday. One facility will be for men and one for women and children.

Hidalgo, who had announced in May that she would set up a camp in Paris, called it a “first for Europe” and said it was France’s duty to accommodate refugees in “humane” conditions.

“If we need to create other sites, we’ll do it”, she added. The sites will provide a temporary solution for refugees as they wait for a place in a refugee hostel.

The centre will be able to sleep about 400 men, Hidalgo said.

It would also offer services to homeless newly arrived migrants, such as social care, legal aid, health and psychological care, and information on where else to find shelter, Hidalgo said in a statement.

A year ago, European leaders agreed on the EU proposal to redistribute 160,000 refugees across European states in order to help struggling Greece to cope with chaotic flows of migrants at its doors.

Hidalgo had announced the camps earlier this year, but on Tuesday painted a picture of what they would look like.

The French capital is considered a transit point for thousands of migrants and refugees who try to reach the northern port of Calais, from where they try to cross to the United Kingdom.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve promised during a visit to the Jungle last week to close the camp down “as quickly as possible” but said it would be done in stages.