- Title: France clears "Jungle" migrant camp in Calais, children in limbo
- Date: 24th October 2016
- Summary: CALAIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 24, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANT MINORS ARRIVING AT WELCOME CENTRE, FENCED OFF AREA OF CAMP ENTRANCE TO WELCOME CENTRE MINORS WAITING TO BE REGISTERED MAN ENTERING CONTAINER MINORS WALKING THROUGH CAMP TO REGISTER AS POLICE STAND BY MIGRANTS WALKING IN STREET MINORS OUTSIDE WELCOME CENTRE VARIOUS OF MINORS IN WELCOME CENTRE AS AID WORKERS ASSIST THEM (SOUNDBITE) (French) WELCOME CENTRE DIRECTOR, STEPHANE DUVAL, SAYING: "For them (the children), the priority is to meet the people from the (British) Home Office very quickly and to see how they can benefit from the family reunification offer. Yes, there will be a particular issue on vulnerability because they are minors, we'll put in place what's necessary to accompany them as best we can. But the aim isn't to open a youth club or a holiday camp, the aim is to sort out their personal situation as quickly as possible, so that they can leave this CAP (reception centre) as soon as possible, in the right conditions." MINORS ARRIVING TO BE REGISTERED (SOUNDBITE) (French) WELCOME CENTRE DIRECTOR, STEPHANE DUVAL, SAYING: "If there are 300 it will be 300 if there are 400 it will be 400, we'll adapt and we'll find a way to house them. But I think that today for the moment there must be about 100 who have arrived, it's midday, perhaps we'll have another 150 this afternoon, it's hard to say." ENTRANCE OF WELCOME CENTRE VARIOUS OF CLOSED SHOP WITH WRITING ON WALL READING (English): "WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP / IS THIS JUSTICE?" MIGRANTS WALKING THROUGH CAMP WITH SUITCASES MIGRANT WALKING THROUGH CAMP ON CRUTCHES, HELPED BY FRIEND VOLUNTEER WITH CHARITY "THE REFUGEE YOUTH SERVICE", MICHAEL MCHUGH, SPEAKING TO MIGRANT FEMALE MIGRANTS WALKING THROUGH CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (English) VOLUNTEER WITH CHARITY "THE REFUGEE YOUTH SERVICE", MICHAEL MCHUGH, SAYING: "I think we've tried to timescale how to move children to safety around the demolition, instead of time scaling the demolition around the safety of children. No organisation here has wanted children to be here when this camp's starts to be demolished. So what's happened now is there's this very hasty rush to do so." VARIOUS OF QUEUE OF MINORS PUDDLE IN CAMP / MIGRANTS WALKING IN CAMP SUDANESE MIGRANTS STANDING AROUND FIRE, ONE TRYING TO WARM SHOES MIGRANT PUTTING FOOT IN FIRE TO GET WARM MIGRANTS IN CAMP CAMP
- Embargoed: 8th November 2016 14:18
- Keywords: Jungle Calais France minors children demolition evacuation camp migrants refugees
- Location: CALAIS, FRANCE
- City: CALAIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00155D7CJR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: NOTE TO FRENCH CLIENTS: FACES OF MINORS MUST BE BLURRED AT THE REQUEST OF THE FRENCH AUTHORITIES
Child residents of the Calais "Jungle" camp remained in limbo on Monday (October 24) as hundreds of migrants abandoned the slum and boarded buses bound for accommodation across France.
Whilst adult refugees and families are set to be relocated, unaccompanied minors are to be temporarily housed in the camp's "Welcome Centre" -- a fenced off park of re-purposed shipping containers -- whilst the British and French governments negotiate what to do with them.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve urged Britain last week to step up efforts to identify and resettle child migrants.
London has given priority to children with family ties and discussions are underway with Paris over who should take in minors with no connections.
Some 1,300 unaccompanied child migrants remain in the camp.
Residents of the shipping containers who have chosen to take buses to other sites across France have freed up 700 to 800 places, welcome centre director Stephane Duval said.
He estimated that 250 children could be rehoused to the site on Monday, though he said he did not expect to change the organisation of the centre to take account of the fact the new residents are children.
"For them (the children), the priority is to meet the people from the (British) Home Office very quickly and to see how they can benefit from the family reunification offer. Yes there will be a particular issue on vulnerability because they are minors, we'll put in place what's necessary to accompany them as best we can. But the aim isn't to open a youth club or a holiday camp, the aim is to sort out their personal situation as quickly as possible," he said.
Youth charity worker Michael McHugh said that not enough planning had been done ahead of the eviction, given that it had been in the pipeline for weeks.
"I think we've tried to timescale how to move children to safety around the demolition, instead of time-scaling the demolition around the safety of children. No organisation here has wanted children to be here when this camp's got to be demolished. So what's happened now is there's this very hasty rush," he said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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