- Title: Volunteers fear disorderly destruction of Calais "Jungle", set for Monday
- Date: 21st October 2016
- Summary: CALAIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 21, 2016) (REUTERS) CAMP MIGRANT WALKING HELICOPTER FLYING MIGRANTS SITTING IN CAMP MIGRANTS WALKING IN A MUDDY STREET IN CAMP MUDDY PUDDLE / CARAVAN WITH RED CROSS DRAWN ON IT MIGRANTS WALKING IN CAMP AND LAUNDRY HANGING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SUDANESE MIGRANT, BABALI, 16-YEAR-OLD, SAYING (FACE NOT IN VISION AS HE REFUSED TO BE VISUALLY IDENTIFIED): "I try to stay in England but I don't have money to go in England or to stay in France, I think it is so hard for me, it is not easy but the thing I can tell God can help me. Only God can help me right now". TWO MIGRANTS WITH WATERPROOF COATS WALKING CHURCH IN THE CAMP SHELTER WITH SIGN READING (French): "SCHOOL" MIGRANTS INSIDE SCHOOL VOLUNTEER FRENCH TEACHER IN SCHOOL IN "JUNGLE", MICHEL ABECASSIS, READING FROM BOARD IN CLASS (French): "WE WANT TO STAY TOGETHER, PLEASE. HE IS MY FRIEND", MIGRANTS REPEATING AFTER HIM (SOUNDBITE) (French) VOLUNTEER FRENCH TEACHER IN SCHOOL IN "JUNGLE", MICHEL ABECASSIS, SAYING: "We would like for all these people who are living in these appalling conditions... Of course the Jungle is not ideal, and it is great that it is over, I totally agree, and I think we all agree that this is not human, it is not worthy of France. But we want to be certain that they will be welcomed with dignity." VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WORKING IN SCHOOL (SOUNDBITE) (French) VOLUNTEER FRENCH TEACHER IN SCHOOL IN "JUNGLE", MICHEL ABECASSIS, SAYING: "The thing is they really don't know where they are going. They have no idea which place they're headed to and above all if they are going to stay with their friends. We are all very worried, I am very worried. A lot of people are here with very close friends and of course their hope is to be in a reception centre with their friends, and not to just be sent anywhere." VARIOUS OF FOUR MIGRANTS POSING FOR A PICTURE (SOUNDBITE) (French) VOLUNTEER IN WOMEN'S CENTRE IN JUNGLE, FERRI, SAYING: "We can't call it the "Jungle" anymore. It's become a village. And if that village is not there anymore, they are no longer protected. They are given over to a manhunt, forced to hide anywhere, in little woods from left to right and that's not progress, as far as I'm concerned. I don't even understand, I might not be French, but I am still European and I don't understand why Europe doesn't understand that there is no point in doing what they are doing right now." CAMP VARIOUS OF WALL BEING BUILT ALONG MOTORWAY TO PREVENT MIGRANTS FROM REACHING TRAFFIC CALAIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 20, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TRUCKS FROM THE CIVIL SECURITY DIVISION OF THE FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY PARKED NEARBY
- Embargoed: 5th November 2016 15:26
- Keywords: France Calais migrants refugees camp Jungle demolition
- Location: CALAIS, FRANCE
- City: CALAIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00154Y801Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The process of demolishing the Calais migrant camp will begin on Monday, France announced on Friday (October 21), but volunteers said they feared it could lead to friends being separated and migrants turned out into the street.
The ramshackle slum houses thousands of migrants and refugees attempting to make it to Britain, which bars most of them on the basis of EU rules requiring them to seek asylum in the first European country they set foot in.
The Interior Ministry announced that it would begin evacuating the 6,486 migrants from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea on Monday, distributing them to centres across France.
With its improvised shacks and poor sanitation, the Jungle has become a symbol of Europe's failure to solve the migration crisis and a sore point in relations between Britain and France.
Volunteer Michel Abecassis gives basic French lessons in a school housed in a makeshift shelter in the camp and he said though the Jungle needed to be closed, he was worried friends might be split up in the process.
"Of course the Jungle is not ideal, and it is great that it is over, I totally agree," he said.
"They have no idea which place they're headed to and above all if they are going to stay with their friends. We are all very worried, I am very worried. A lot of people are here with very close friends and of course their hope is to be in a reception centre with their friends, and not to just be sent anywhere," he added.
Announcing its planned closure last month, President Francois Hollande described the situation there as "unacceptable". A French court this week dismissed a legal challenge by charities who had sought more time to come up with alternative housing.
Ferri is a volunteer who works in a women's shelter in the camp.
While she said she did not like the conditions in the camp, the migrants were at least protected there.
"We can't call it the "Jungle" anymore. It's become a village. And if that village is not there anymore, they are no longer protected. They are given over to a manhunt, forced to hide anywhere, in little woods from left to right and that's not progress, as far as I'm concerned," she said.
An interior ministry official said migrants would have to present themselves at a giant hangar where they would be separated into families, adults, unaccompanied minors and vulnerable individuals, including elderly people and single women.
They will then be bused to a network of 450 reception centres across the country, where they will receive medical checks and, if they have not already done so, decide whether to apply for asylum. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
