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GREAT FIRE OF CALAIS

Incredible before and after pictures of Calais Jungle reveal the devastation left after removal of 6,000 migrant squatters

TODAY the camp, once home to 10,000 people, lies empty after authorities spent this week closing it down

By Corey Charlton
28th October 2016, 4:57 pm
Updated: 28th November 2016, 2:16 pm

AT its peak the Jungle migrant camp in Calais had an estimated population of 10,000 and comprised thousands of makeshift tents.

Today, as these aerial images reveal, the site lies in ruins – with only the debris and dwellings not burned in this week’s upheaval left behind.
Jim Bennett
Before: This picture shows how the Jungle looked a month ago on September 26 – thriving with an estimated population of 10,000

JIM BENNETT
After: This picture, taken today, shows the Calais Jungle after it was gutted by this week’s unrest and forced closures

The massive undertaking of emptying the sprawling shantytown was carried out by French authorities this week.

Battling fires, disorder and violence, they have managed to remove some 6,000 migrants who were living in the area, hoping to board lorries bound for Britain.

More are likely to be removed this week, with French politicians claiming the site will be closed and emptied by Monday.

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Migrants turn to Eurostar station in bid to reach Britain as thousands move to Paris following Jungle closure
RING OF STEEL
Dozens of armed riot cops seen arriving at Calais Jungle as the notorious migrant camp goes up in flames

Photographs taken in August, September and earlier this month show just how full the camp was – compared to the barren landscape seen today.

Meanwhile, the number of UK-bound migrants sleeping in illegal camps in Paris has increased by a third since the destruction of the Jungle.

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.
Reuters
Before: The sprawling camp pictured on August 14

JIM BENNETT
After: As it looks today from the exact same position

Getty Images
Before: Another section of the camp, pictured on August 16, shows dozens of containerised shelters

JIM BENNETT
After: Today they are almost the only structures left standing after a week of chaos and fires

Getty Images
Before: An October 9 shot shows tents dotted throughout the scrubland

JIM BENNETT
After: Today, the empty site has bulldozers moving debris

AP:Associated Press
Before: This photograph was taken on October 17, just days before the camp’s demolition began

JIM BENNETT
After: But today areas once packed with migrants’ tents are seen completely gutted

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.
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Migrants queue as soap is distributed in a street in Paris

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The French capital is seeing an influx of migrants since the Jungle in Calais was destroyed

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A migrant stands next to tents erected in a street in Paris

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Some 5,000 people have been evacuated from the camp – with many thought to now be in the capital

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.
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Migrants sit outside their tents in one of the growing new camps in the capital

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There are fears the city with be inundated with new camps

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The camps have swelled in size after the closure of the Jungle in Calais

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A migrant sits among the sprawl of tents in downtown Paris

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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