Migrants turn to Eurostar station in bid to reach Britain after thousands move to Paris following closure of the Jungle in Calais
Some 5,596 people have been evacuated since the operation to raze the Jungle shantytown in Calais began
THE number of UK-bound migrants sleeping in illegal camps in Paris has increased by a third since the destruction of the Calais Jungle, it was warned today.
It raises the prospect of the French capital turning into the new hub for thousands of asylum seekers seeking a new life in Britain.
Paris’s first official refugee camp is due to open within the next few days, and it is expected to become a magnet for even more refugees.
The new facility will be men only, and only take 400 migrants at a time. Even then, they will only be able to stay for a maximum of ten weeks at a time.
It will open close to the Gare du Nord Eurostar hub, from where high speed trains travel to and from London.
A total of 5,596 people have been evacuated since the operation to raze the Jungle shantytown in Calais began on Monday morning.
While most have been bused to some 450 resettlement centres around France, up to 5,000 more are thought to have travelled away independently.
Heloise Mary, a member of France’s office for the welcome and accompaniment of migrants, said numbers in Paris had shot up.
Referring to a camp close to the Stalingrad Metro in the north of Paris, she told the BFM news channel: “We’ve gone from two thousand to three thousand in two days with the closure of Calais.”
Regular train services from Calais to Paris take just over two hours, while it is relatively easy to get lifts in cars and lorries too.
Today there were plenty of Calais migrants on board the Paris trains, and they said they would stay there while working out how to get to Britain as quickly as possible.
“Big cities like Paris are a good place to wait,” said Aamir, a 22-year-old originally from Kandahar in Afghanistan.
“There is food and warmth, and there are more camps being setup. We can stay there, and then get aboard lorries heading for Britain.
“We do not have a chance in Calais at the moment, so Paris is the best option. We will be fine there.”
A Paris police source confirmed that illegal camps closed by court order in recent months were springing up again.
“Tents and huts are set up overnight, and then hundreds of people are sleeping rough in a matter of days,” he said.
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