Calais camp, symbol of migrant crisis, set for destruction

Authorities said they will increase daily efforts to move uprooted migrants into a container camp set up last month in the northern sector and encourage them to go to a temporary welcome centers where they can reconsider their plans and eventually apply for asylum in France.

His Belgian counterpart ordered almost 300 extra police to the Flemish coast on Tuesday to patrol the border and the area around the port of Zeebrugge and warned that “thousands” of migrants could head north into Belgium as some already have.

The authorities have said they will use force if necessary to move them to other accommodation in a nearby container park and reception centres across France.

“We are pleased”, Philippe Mignonet, Calais’s deputy mayor, said of the court’s decision.

“Any claim that this (operation) could cause an increase in the flow of migrants to the Belgian border does not correspond to reality”, he said.

Mr Cazeneuve said the very idea of Calais migrants heading for Belgium “doesn’t correspond to reality”.

Greece’s foreign ministry says it is recalling its ambassador to Austria back to Athens for consultations, a day after Austria held a meeting with officials from Balkan countries to discuss how to limit the numbers of migrants flowing into Europe, but excluded Greece.

EU spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said EU Commission officials “fail to understand how it would fit into the decision-making process which was agreed to by all member states, including Hungary”.

Humanitarian organizations say over 3,000 migrants live in the targeted southern sector.

Volunteers said they were “shocked” by the ruling.

He said: “These people are trying to look for a place of peace where they can make a new life for them and their family, at least until it’s safe enough to return home”.

A judge at the Administrative Court in Lille is likely to decide Thursday on a request by humanitarian groups to postpone the destruction.

Authorities view the razing of much of the camp as a turning point for Calais, but that’s a far from certain outcome. Facing criticism of the eviction order, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve softened the ultimatum this week, saying the evacuation would be “progressive”. “Thousands of pounds and thousands of man-hours have been spent building shelters to get people out of the tents and the mud, to keep them warm and dry”, Moseley said, “This will now all be destroyed and this incredible investment will be wasted”.

For numerous approximately 4,000 people in the Jungle, reaching Britain either through the Channel Tunnel or via the Port of Calais is the ultimate goal.

Tamping down fears of a violent confrontation, France’s interior minister promised to treat the migrants humanely and not send in bulldozers to evict them. “We are also going to increase the number of rounds to incite migrants to take up those places that are available [in containers] or to move towards other centres”.