Uncertain future for Calais migrants on last day of "Jungle"

Record ID: 84160

  • Title: Uncertain future for Calais migrants on last day of "Jungle"
  • Date: 23rd October 2016
  • Summary: CALAIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING IN STREET IN CAMP VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING PAST CONTAINER PARK IN CAMP VARIOUS OF MIGRANT WASHING HAIR VARIOUS OF CAMP VARIOUS OF MIGRANT MAKING TEA MIGRANTS INCLUDING 28-YEAR-OLD SUDANESE MIGRANT, ABDULLAH HAMID, DRINKING TEA (SOUNDBITE) (English) 28-YEAR-OLD SUDANESE MIGRANT, ABDULLAH HAMID, SAYING: "I've asked for asylum here in France, yes. And I'm ready to leave this Jungle because this Jungle is not good for us, for our life here. It's better for us to leave this Jungle, to go to CAO (welcome and orientation centres). I think it’s better." TENTS VARIOUS OF MIGRANT CUTTING ANOTHER MIGRANT'S HAIR FRENCH OFFICIALS HANDING OUT LEAFLETS EXPLAINING EVACUATION PROCESS IN CONTAINER PARK AREA OF CAMP STREET VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS EXPLAINING EVACUATION TO MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF CAMP MIGRANT STANDING ON HILL WITH MOTORWAY LEADING TO FERRY PORT IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (French) ACTIVIST FROM NGO "AUBERGE DES MIGRANTS", FRANCOIS GUENNOC, SAYING: "Maybe about half, maybe a bit less, will leave of their own accord. For the rest, they'll leave if compelled in the buses or they'll just leave, as many already have done, over 2,000 people have left in the last few weeks and this weekend there are lots of people leaving for Paris or elsewhere." STREET IN CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (French) ACTIVIST FROM NGO "AUBERGE DES MIGRANTS", FRANCOIS GUENNOC, SAYING: "We agree that this camp should go, if people are offered the right solution but lots of refugees who've left, who've gone to Britain or elsewhere, say they "miss" the Jungle, in their words. Why? Because relationships between people have built up in this place, friendships, powerful stories, it's an important moment in their lives and they find it hard to let go of this place." VARIOUS OF MIGRANT BRUSHING TEETH VOLUNTEER WITH CHARITY "CARE 4 CALAIS", MOLLY BARR, WRITING DOWN MIGRANT'S DETAILS (SOUNDBITE) (English) VOLUNTEER WITH CHARITY "CARE 4 CALAIS", MOLLY BARR, SAYING: "It's hard because people's future is now uncertain again and they don't know where they're going or how things are going to be dealt with so today it's much sadder, I think, especially for people who still don't have shoes or still don't have very basic needs like clothing or even bags to put things in. It's hard there because people keep asking us for things and it's the last day. How are they going to get them before their forced to move? So today is calm because people are just sad really." 14-YEAR-OLD SUDANESE MIGRANT, AL-AALDEEA, LOOKING OUT AT JUNGLE CAMP (SOUNDBITE) (English) 14-YEAR-OLD SUDANESE MIGRANT, AL-AALDEEA, SAYING: "They say they have another house for all people young, bambinos. After that I'll go to the UK but I don't know." MIGRANTS WALKING IN CAMP MIGRANT SAYING GOODBYE AND WAVING, WALKING AWAY
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2016 15:16
  • Keywords: Calais France Jungle migrants refugees demolition camp evacuation
  • Location: CALAIS, FRANCE
  • City: CALAIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015584YMF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: An air of uncertainty hung over the Calais "Jungle" camp on Sunday (October 23) as France prepared to evacuate over 6,500 migrants ahead of the demolition planned for next week.
    A vast evacuation is set to begin on Monday with 60 buses prepared to transport a first wave of migrants to welcome centres across the country, and more expected over the coming days.
    French President Francois Hollande last month vowed to tear down the camp, populated by people fleeing troubled areas of Africa and the Middle East and hoping to start a new life in Britain, on the other side of the channel.
    The dilapidated shelters and muddy alleys on a windswept scrap of land in northern France have become a potent symbol of Europe's failure to provide an adequate response to the migrant crisis.
    All seemed calm in the camp on Sunday, with many migrants saying their bags were packed and that they were eager to leave.
    Sudanese electrician Abdullah Hamid said he had already made an asylum claim in France, and had even begun French lessons at the camp's language school.
    "I'm ready to leave this Jungle because this Jungle is not good for us, for our life here," he told Reuters.
    In recent days, the authorities have stepped up an information campaign, distributing leaflets and putting up posters in different languages telling the migrants that the camp is set to close.
    A giant hangar has been rented on the outskirts of the Jungle where migrants will be separated into families, adults, unaccompanied minors and vulnerable individuals before being offered a choice of two French regions in which to be re-housed.
    450 reception centres are waiting for them across the country where they will receive medical checks and be able to decide whether to apply for asylum.
    Activist Francois Guennoc said he thought about half the migrants would be happy to leave, but that many others feared being deported to another European country which had already registered them under the EU's "Dublin" rules, or being sent home having already been refused asylum.
    "Over 2,000 people have left in the last few weeks and this weekend there are lots of people leaving for Paris or elsewhere," he said.
    "We agree that this camp should go, if people are offered the right solution but lots of refugees who've left, who've gone to Britain or elsewhere, say they "miss" the Jungle, in their words. Why? Because relationships between people have built up in this place, friendships, powerful stories, it's an important moment in their lives and they find it hard to let go," he added.
    In the meantime, volunteers are hurriedly distributing suitcases and provisions preparing the migrants for their journey.
    Molly Barr is a volunteer with charity Care 4 Calais which is attempting to log as many migrants as possible to ensure they do not going missing during the evacuation.
    "It's hard because people's future is now uncertain again and they don't know where they're going or how things are going to be dealt with so today it's much sadder, I think, especially for people who still don't have shoes or still don't have very basic needs like clothing or even bags to put things in. It's hard there because people keep asking us for things and it's the last day. How are they going to get them before their forced to move? So today is calm because people are just sad really," she said.
    The fate of some 1,300 unaccompanied minors still hangs in the air.
    Guennoc said that they would be kept in sheltered accommodation already existing in the camp whilst their cases were looked at by the French authorities and the British Home Office.
    14-year-old Al-Aaldeea said he wanted to join his elder brother who has been living in Glasgow in Scotland for three years.
    "They say they have another house for all people young, bambinos. After that I'll go to the UK but I don't know," he said.
    Some 1,250 police and gendarmes will oversee the operation, and any migrants who refuse to move risk being arrested, an official from the interior ministry said.
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