- Title: Empty makeshift shelters burn in Calais "Jungle"
- Date: 25th October 2016
- Summary: CALAIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 25, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING FROM FIRES BURNING IN CALAIS MIGRANT CAMP FIRE BRIGADE AND POLICE VEHICLES ARRIVING FIRE ENGINE DRIVING NEAR FIRE VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS STANDING AROUND BURNING FIRE / SMOKE RISING SMOKE RISING FROM FIRE / MIGRANTS STANDING IN BACKGROUND EMERGENCY VEHICLES PARKED NEAR FIRES RIOT POLICE ESCORTING FIRE ENGINE AS THEY ARRIVE AT SCENE MIGRANTS STANDING NEAR FIRE REGIONAL PREFECT, FABIENNE BUCCIO, TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French REGIONAL PREFECT, FABIENNE BUCCIO, SAYING: "Some migrants follow traditions - we asked them not to do it - but they set ablaze their tents and their shelters when they leave. We told them not to do it, but some, not as many as those in the southern part (eds note: refers to the part of camp demolished in March), do it anyway. We are on standby, the fire brigade is in the vicinity to guarantee security and to prevent the fire from spreading. It's part of a tradition. Even if we would like them to refrain from doing it, they do it." WOODEN STRUCTURE FROM A SHACK BURNING VARIOUS OF FIRE-FIGHTERS PUTTING OUT FIRE RIOT POLICE OFFICER LOOKING ON VARIOUS OF RIOT POLICE GUARDING AREA NEAR FIRE RIOT POLICE ESCORTING FIRE ENGINE TOWARDS FIRE
- Embargoed: 9th November 2016 19:59
- Keywords: France Calais migrant camp jungle shelters
- Location: CALAIS, FRANCE
- City: CALAIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00155I9K5J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Black smoke rose from fires burning in the Calais "Jungle" shanty town on Tuesday (October 25) evening as French authorities continued to demolish the camp, moving out migrants who have been living there.
Groups of migrants set ablaze empty makeshift shelters left behind by those fleeing war and poverty mainly in the Middle East and Africa.
France began clearing the sprawling "Jungle" camp on Monday (October 24) as many migrants who have been camping for months or years among sand dunes near Calais gave up on their dreams of reaching Britain, a tantalizingly short sea crossing away.
Regional prefect Fabienne Buccio said migrants burning empty shelters is a tradition for many migrants who have been living in the camp.
"We are on standby, the fire brigade is in the vicinity to guarantee security and to prevent the fire from spreading. It's part of a tradition. Even if we would like them to refrain from doing it, they do it," she told journalists.
By Tuesday evening, over 4,000 camp residents had left the squalid shanty-town outside the northern port by bus and were being rehoused at reception centres across the country, Buccio said.
Six months before a presidential election in France, immigration, the Calais camp and border controls with Britain are hot campaign issues.
Some right-wing opponents of President Francois Hollande want all the Jungle migrants sent to Britain.
The far-right National Front party said the current resettlement plan would create mini-Calais camps across France. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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