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CALAIS JUNGLE CLOSING

How is the Calais Jungle refugee camp being demolished and why are people protesting?

The Jungle crew is being destroyed in a week-long operation by the French police and government

THOUSANDS of migrants are being booted out from their temporary home in the Calais 'Jungle' camp this week.

Riot police are storming the shantytown in France in a bid to shut it down once and for all after years of unrest near the port of Calais.

 The Jungle crew is being destroyed in a week-long operation by the French police and government
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The Jungle crew is being destroyed in a week-long operation by the French police and governmentCredit: Getty Images

The town, which sits on the coast of the English Channel, has become a hotspot for migrants, many of whom are desperate to get to Britain and claim asylum.

The French authorities believe they can clear the area as they bus thousands of migrants across France in a week-long operation.

Here's everything you need to know about the camp and its demolition.

What is the Calais Jungle and why do people live there?

 Calais is very close to the Channel Tunnel and port, which has made it a hotspot for migrants wanting to enter the UK
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Calais is very close to the Channel Tunnel and port, which has made it a hotspot for migrants wanting to enter the UK

The Calais 'Jungle' is the nickname given to a mass refugee and migrant camp near the port Calais, France, which is close to the Channel Tunnel.

According to charity Help Refugees over 8,000 people were living there before the operation to clear it started, including over 600 children.

Several of the migrants are in Calais because they want to enter the UK and claim asylum - and many have attempted to illegally enter the UK.

Why is the Calais Jungle being demolished and how?

The Jungle is being demolished in a week-long operation which started on Monday.

Migrants are being bussed out to various places in France throughout the week and unaccompanied children will stay on the camp is "provisional accommodation" in converted shipping containers.

Demolition crews moved in to begin destroying the camp yesterday.

They pulled down unoccupied tents and shacks with sledgehammers and used diggers to move away debris.

The work is expected to mostly be carried out by hand the Calais police commissioner says the camp will be fully cleared by Friday.

More than 4,014 migrants have been moved over the past two days and it is expected that only 200 will attempt to stay on the site.

 Work has started to demolish the camp in Calais
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Work has started to demolish the camp in CalaisCredit: Getty Images
 Over 4,000 people have now been evicted from the Jungle as the demolition gets underway
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Over 4,000 people have now been evicted from the Jungle as the demolition gets underwayCredit: EPA

The camp is being destroyed for many reasons, but mainly because it is out of control. With so many people it has become a hotspot for violence and is particularly unsafe for women and children.

Charities are particularly worries about families, who need to be moved somewhere safe and clean. They also say that there are several children living alone in the camp who need to be identified and cared for.

What will happen to the thousands of people living in the Calais Jungle?

Migrants are being placed into separate queues of families, lone migrants and vulnerable people.

After being processed at points throughout the camp they are being bussed out to various asylum centres in France - there are 167 new asylum centres across the country with room for 7,500 people.

Some of the locations have been named including centres in Haute Savoie, Haute Loire, l’Isère, Drôme and Saône et Loire. These are rural places and will house between 100 and 300 migrants.

 Migrants have been sorted into groups before being allocated an asylum centre
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Migrants have been sorted into groups before being allocated an asylum centreCredit: Reuters
 Migrants are being processed and put on busses out to new asylum centres across France
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Migrants are being processed and put on busses out to new asylum centres across FranceCredit: PA:Press Association
 Unaccompanied children will be housed in these shipping containers as they are assessed for their eligibility to come to the UK
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Unaccompanied children will be housed in these shipping containers as they are assessed for their eligibility to come to the UKCredit: AP:Associated Press

At their new destination they will be given the opportunity to claim asylum else risk being deported.

Unaccompanied children will remain in Calais inside purpose built container cabins in the Jungle, where they will be assessed for eligibility to come to the UK.

However, aid workers have warned many are planning to stay in the area which could spark violence across the camp.

Why are people protesting over the Calais Jungle?

Many people do not want to leave and instead are determined to get to England. The night before the camp evictions started there were clashes after camp residents threw stones at French riot police who stepped in after migrants torched vehicles.

 Migrants torched cars last night as they protested against the camp being demolished
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Migrants torched cars last night as they protested against the camp being demolishedCredit: Reuters
 Migrants started fires during clashes with police last night
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Migrants started fires during clashes with police last nightCredit: Getty Images
 Human rights activists have protested the removal of the Jungle
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Human rights activists have protested the removal of the JungleCredit: Getty Images

However, there have also been protests by other groups and charities who are opposed to the camp being destructed.  Police are expecting more clashes after it emerged up to 200 members of the "No Border" British anarchist group arrived in the camp over the weekend.

How did the Calais Jungle start?

Camps in Calais started in 1999, when the controversial French Red Cross Sangatte refugee camp was opened.

It closed in 2002 but since then migrants have continued to arrive in the port and build makeshift camps with the original "jungle" established in the woods near the port.

 Migrants gather by their tents as they prepare to leave the Jungle
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Migrants gather by their tents as they prepare to leave the JungleCredit: Getty Images
 Machinery will bulldoze the camp in the coming days after residents are bussed out to asylum centres across France
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Machinery will bulldoze the camp in the coming days after residents are bussed out to asylum centres across FranceCredit: AP:Associated Press

A census by charity Help Refugees showed that there were 8,143 people living in the camp before its demolition, with 600 of believed to be children.

Why do people living in the Calais Jungle want to come to Britain and where do they come from?

The people living in the Jungle have mostly been displaced by war and have fled violent conflicts. Eritrea (Africa), Pakistan, Syria and Iran are the top four countries of origin for people seeking asylum in the UK.

Migrants want to come over the UK for a number of different reasons - some have family living here, and others speak English.

Almost 200 children from the camp have been brought into the UK, some under the “Dubs” amendment to the Immigration Act.

This allows particularly vulnerable children, including girls and those under 13, to stay in Britain even if they don’t have family here.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has insisted no children beyond those eligible will be given a home here and that Britain will take in around 650 unaccompanied children from the Jungle.


READ MORE

What is the Calais Jungle, where is the migrant camp, how many refugees live there and will they be able to claim asylum in the UK?

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