Authorities in Calais have begun dismantling the sprawling refugee camp outside the northern French town known as the “Jungle”, with some clashes reportedly breaking out and riot police using tear gas, reports The Guardian.
Orange-vested work crews painstakingly dismantled several dozen makeshift wood-and-tarpaulin shacks by hand before two diggers loaded the debris into large trucks. Police in riot gear shielded the work, and initially there were no reports of unrest beyond a report of one British activist being arrested.
Video footage from a volunteer inside the camp showed residents running away from clouds of tear gas. Reuters said police fired tear gas at about 150 migrants and activists who threw stones, with three shelters set on fire.
Volunteer groups said an estimated 60 or 70 of the approximately 3,500 people living in the camp had seen their shelters or tents removed. They said removal work began early on Monday morning, with officials telling residents they had an hour to leave before their home was demolished.
The prefecture of Calais, which late last week won a court battle allowing demolition to begin, wants to clear large parts of the southern part of the site, on dune land just west of the town’s busy docks. It adjoins the road leading to the ferry terminal, a draw for migrants seeking to smuggle themselves onto trucks bound for the UK.
Volunteer groups have warned that moving people from the camp will do little but disperse many elsewhere around Calais.
A UK-based group, the Refugee Rights Data Project, said that of 460 Jungle residents asked what they would do if the camp was dismantled, 80% said they would remain in Calais or move to a more basic refugee encampment in nearby Dunkirk.