- Title: Calais camp to be dismantled before year end, Hollande says
- Date: 26th September 2016
- Summary: CALAIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 26, 2016) (AGENCY POOL) FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, AND OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS ARRIVING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SAYING: "We thought that the migration crisis might calm down, so that we could deal with the question of the camp over time. Today, that is no longer the case. Today, it's about completely dismantling the camp before the end of the year. And this operation must be carried out with humanity, responsibility and respect because that is our duty." MAYOR OF CALAIS, NATACHA BOUCHART, WALKING UP TO PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAYOR OF CALAIS, NATACHA BOUCHART, SAYING: "I hardly need tell you, Mr. President, the migration crisis that Calais has been subjected to have reached its peak. The interior minister (Bernard Cazeneuve) -- whom I thank for coming, and for standing by us since he took on the job -- told us a little under a month ago that the northern zone of the camp would be dismantled before the end of the year. But our fears remain intact. What decisions will you take to guarantee that what we're going through today won't happen again in a few months?" WHITE FRAME (SOUNDBITE) (French) PRESIDENT OF LOCAL REGION, XAVIER BERTRAND, SAYING: "Nobody here in the region wants to see the topic of Calais come up again in the town, or in Dunkirk or anywhere else in the region. But people need to understand that what's being proposed isn't the recreation of the same tragedy we've lived through for years in Calais elsewhere in France. Let's look at the situation with clarity. And the Calais problem, the migrant problem is not only a problem for the region, but also for the whole nation. Look clearly at the solutions and you'll see that we don't want to impose on others the drama we have lived through here, I want to make that clear." VARIOUS OF HOLLANDE INAUGURATING FIRST STONE OF PORT EXTENSION
- Embargoed: 11th October 2016 14:58
- Keywords: Hollande Calais camp migrants Jungle Bouchart Bertrand
- Location: CALAIS, FRANCE
- City: CALAIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001517BADJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:PLEASE NOTE THIS EDIT CONTAINS A WHITE FLASH IN SHOT FIVE
President Francois Hollande said on Monday that France will completely shut down "the Jungle" camp in Calais by year-end but local officials said they feared the migrants could return within months.
"We thought that the migration crisis might calm down, so that we could deal with the question of the camp over time. Today, that is no longer the case. Today, it's about completely dismantling the camp before the end of the year. And this operation must be carried out with humanity, responsibility and respect because that is our duty," Hollande said on his first visit to the town since his election in 2012.
At least 7,000 migrants currently live in a shanty town of huts and temporary housing outside the port, hoping to board boats and trains to Britain. Up to 80 percent of them are eligible to claim asylum in France.
Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart said that even if the camp was taken down, steps must be taken to ensure that the migrants do not simply return later.
"I hardly need tell you, Mr. President, the migration crisis that Calais has been subjected to have reached its peak," she told Hollande.
"Our fears remain intact. What decisions will you take to guarantee that what we're going through today won't happen again in a few months?" she said.
France plans to relocate the migrants in small groups around the country but right-wing opponents of Hollande are raising the heat ahead of the election in April, accusing him of mismanaging a problem that is ultimately a British one.
The plans have been controversial with some local officials saying they will refuse to take groups of migrants but Xavier Bertrand, a senior politician in the opposition Les Republicains party and leader of the local council, said that he was prepared to work with the government.
"People need to understand that what's being proposed isn't the recreation of the same tragedy we've lived through for years in Calais elsewhere in France. Let's look at the situation with clarity. And the Calais problem, the migrant problem is not only a problem for the region, but also for the whole nation," he said.
Hollande promised to return to the town after the dismantling of the camp. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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