Calais migrants pack their bags on eve of refugee camp eviction
MIGRANTS have been spotted packing their lives into suitcases as they prepare for the demolition of the Calais Jungle.
Men and women and children have crammed their belongings into bags, ready to evacuate, with French authorities set to deconstruct the site this week.
The current camp was built up in April 2015, housing more than 10,000 migrants at its peak.
While the numbers have dropped in the camp’s final days, it is estimated around 5000 migrants are still using the area as their makeshift home.
As images of migrants carrying their suitcases emerge, British NGOs, charities and lawmakers have urged French authorities to maintain the safety of young migrants during the demolition.
More adult migrants have reportedly gathered at the checkpoint site at the Jungle in an attempt to follow those permitted to enter the UK, with the first load coaches filled with ‘child migrants’ arrive in Britain
The group of around 100, which is the biggest influx since the Government started bringing over young refugees, arrived yesterday and are the first to be brought in following a change to the Immigration Act which meant Britain has to accept some of the ‘most vulnerable’ unaccompanied child refugees who do not necessarily have ties to the UK.
About 70 children from Calais are now expected to arrive in Devon, with the group to be housed at a hostel in the countryside near Great Torrington on Sunday or Monday.
The children, who were processed through the Home Office at Croydon in south London, had previously been accompanied by a private security company as they left Calais.
It is not clear if the children were brought into the UK under the new amendment.
Geoffrey Cox, Conservative MP for Torridge and West Devon said the move will not be a permanent institution and the hostel will act as a processing centre.
He said: “The majority of the children will only be here for a few days.
“They will be under 18 and there is no question of anyone over 18 coming.”
Before the change was made, young refugees who have arrived in Britain have been brought under the Dublin regulations, which require the children to have family resident in the UK.
A shack has been set up by the Home Office in the heart of the French camp where officials have begun processing children to bring to the UK as part of the scheme.
The facility is also being used to establish the age and eligibility of the migrants.
Desperation to come to the UK is at a high as the camp is due to be demolished tomorrow.
Three coaches arrived at Croydon in South London yesterday but were shielded by a 15ft wall.
It comes after a furious debate over the arrival of the ‘child migrants’ to the UK, with many pointing out the males appeared to be much older than 18.
The new structure, built by workers from from Phoenix Scaffolding, reached around the area where all previous coaches from Calais have stopped outside Lunar House, the Home Office building where migrants are interviewed.
A Home Office spokesperson told The Sun Online that the screens were temporary, saying: “Our focus is, and will continue to be, transferring eligible children and young people from Calais to the UK before the camp clearance begins.
“We urge everyone, including the media, to respect the privacy of these vulnerable individuals.”
The measures come after the UK’s largest fostering charity TACT tweeted a Sun photograph of a ‘child migrant’, claiming that the male was an adult interpreter with the Home Office.
But the claims have since been denied, forcing the charity to delete their tweet.
The first girl migrant from the camp arrived in the UK a few days ago.
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