French state representatives went from tent to tent on Friday trying to convince residents in a sprawling migrant camp in the port city of Calais to leave, a day after a court ruled that a mass eviction could go ahead, reports Yahoo! News.
Authorities wanted a ruling allowing them to raze the camp, where thousands of migrants from the world's trouble spots have gathered to try to sneak across the English Channel to Britain via ferry or a Eurotunnel rail service.
But Thursday's court decision fell short of allowing a complete destruction of buildings at the site, concluding that the makeshift shelters where migrants sleep can be demolished — but that common spaces like places of worship, schools and a library that have sprung up must stand.
With the status of the camp — known as the "jungle" — under international scrutiny, officials have taken a cautious approach — using persuasion instead of force to pry migrants from their shelters in a process that could take many weeks.
French authorities have offered to relocate those uprooted by the eviction order in the southern portion of the makeshift camp, either in heated containers installed last month nearby or at centers around France where they may choose to apply for asylum.
Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve says 2,700 migrants along the northern French coast have been sent to centers since October.
Read more of this Associated Press tory published by Yahoo! News.