Tag Archives: Calais

#Calais: Stranded Children Spend Night In Derelict Camp

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Dozens of children were forced to spend the night in a partially demolished migrant camp in Calais after French authorities failed to find them a safe space to stay, aid groups said Friday.

Work to empty and demolish The Jungle migrant camp began Monday — but as of Thursday, approximately 100 unaccompanied minors remained at the camp with nowhere to go.
Chaotic scenes unfolded outside the camp as the day wore on, with riot police barring entry to the camp and the authorities threatening that anyone who hadn’t been registered could be taken into custody.
Aid workers who waited with teenagers who hadn’t managed to register during the week because of long lines said they had finally been allowed back into what remained of the ramshackle camp to sleep.
The minors were permitted to stay in the makeshift school and mosque on the outskirts of The Jungle, Alexandra Simmons, of the charity Care4Calais, told CNN on Friday. Some had already spent the previous night sleeping rough at the camp.
Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais, told CNN via email: “School quiet this morning. Children given food and drink. Some have wandered off into the camp or elsewhere which is exactly what we feared.”
She said the police had come to the site and asked for a headcount, which was 106 children and nine adults.
The police chief said he was going to ask the Calais authorities for a bus to take the children to one of the temporary accommodation centers where adults from the camp have already been taken, she said.
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Fires Rage Across Calais Refugee Camp Amid Evacuation

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Massive fires have been raging overnight through the refugee camp in the French port city of Calais that has been at the center of much controversy recently. This as authorities have been trying to evacuate thousands of refugees to other reception centers across the nation.

It is not exactly known who started the fires, with initial reports pointing the finger of blame at refugees opposed to the destruction of the camp.

But French authorities said later that they were investigating claims that ‘No Borders’ activists were indeed responsible for the arson attacks. The British group campaigns against borders and immigration controls.

The French government finally decided to completely demolish the infamous shantytown after a few earlier attempts to partially dismantle it. The operation got underway on Monday amid much opposition from the camp’s residents.

Fires billowing black columns of smoke into the air left some of the protesting refugees with major injuries, while others were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

According to local officials emergency services workers were attacked with stones and other projectiles as they tried to put out the flames, and riot police had to intervene to deal with the chaos.

Residents told officials that activists had come into the settlement in the middle of the night and set off canisters, hence starting the fires.

Demolition workers on Tuesday started tearing down the tents where up to 8,000 refugees, including 1,200 children, mainly from Afghanistan, Sudan and Eritrea, have been living in dire conditions.

Last month, President Francois Hollande pledged to definitely and entirely raze the camp after a visit to Calais.

More than 1,200 police and officials have already been deployed in the northern port city in what Paris calls a “humanitarian” operation. But a large number of refugees are said to be resisting evacuation.

Credit: presstv