Calais migrants face deadline to move out

British celebrities including actor Jude Law and playwright Tom Stoppard gave performances at the Jungle migrant camp in northern France on Sunday to draw attention to the plight of refugees facing imminent eviction. The petition letter urging Cameron to intercede in the refugee crisis in Calais and Dunkirk was signed by 96,000 people including 150 famous personalities, Daily Mail reports.

Under the local ruling they could remove the tents if necessary by force.

The Help Refugees charity said it carried out its own analysis showing there were 3,455 people living in the affected part of the Jungle who faced being “evicted from their homes in the midst of winter, without sufficient alternative accommodation on offer”.

If it rejects the claims, up to 3,500 migrants will have to leave the southern part of the camp by 7pm this evening, Irish time.

John, a 28-year-old Sudanese migrant, said: ‘I don’t have anywhere else to go. The children in the camp at Calais need us.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said the eviction will be done “progressively, by persuasion and with respect for people’s dignity”.

There may be a lifeline for the camp’s residents, however, with a judge due to visit the site before the hearing of an appeal at a court in Lille this afternoon.

His friend Ahmed added: “We know we won’t be here forever, thank God, but for the moment we don’t have any choice”.

Residents of the southern sector of the camp, known locally as “the jungle”, must clear out by 8 p.m. Tuesday so it can be razed, according to the order by the state authority for Calais.

“The dismantling should start on Wednesday and security forces will not be used if everyone plays their part”, Buccio said.

Calais town hall has claimed the eviction is in response to “abuses” committed by migrants that had led to “an aggravated level of tension” in recent weeks.

There is fierce debate over the numbers of people living in the camp.

It followed a visit to the camp by the actor Jude Law, who called for children living there to be allowed to come to Britain, if they have family in the country.

French authorities want them to move to nearby heated containers or welcome centers around the country, and to reconsider their dreams of reaching Britain on the other side of the English Channel.

The containers have not proved popular with migrants, who say they lack communal spaces and restrict their movements, while local charities say they fail to meet global standards.