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France to close squatter camp for migrants
AFP - Friday, April 24
CALAIS, France (AFP) - - France aims to shut down by the end of the year a squatter camp in the Channel port of Calais used by migrants heading for Britain, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said Thursday.
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The minister unveiled a six-point plan to help hundreds of migrants who have set up shelters in an area known as "the jungle" from where they try to sneak onto trucks that cross the Channel by ferry or train.
"We will take the time necessary to prepare the dismantlement of the camp but the jungle must be gone before the end of the year," Besson told a news conference in the town.
He also appealed to Britain to do more to strengthen border control and help resolve the problem of the migrant camp in Calais.
"Only a clear and credible message from Britain that the border cannot be trespassed will deter illegal immigration rings from coming to Calais," he said.
The Calais "jungle" appeared after President Nicolas Sarkozy, then interior minister, shut down a Red Cross shelter in nearby Sangatte in November 2002, under pressure from Britain.
The centre had been a source of tension between London and Paris since its opening in 1999, with London saying it served as a springboard for illegal migration into Britain.
Some of the migrants want to be reunited with family members across the Channel and many consider Britain to be richer in opportunities than mainland Europe for finding work and housing, as well as posing less of a language barrier as most speak at least rudimentary English.
Among the six measures unveiled Thursday was the creation of a new centre to receive asylum requests and facilities to provide migrants with health care and meals, but the minister insisted these would not be a "new or mini-Sangatte."
Local politicians and business leaders complain the tent camp has mushroomed and that tensions between the migrants and residents are on the boil.
Calais Mayor Natacha Bouchart told the minister that the city, with 14 percent unemployment and 6,000 welfare recipients, "can no longer cope with the problem of the migrants."
Besson travelled to Calais after police raided the squatter camp on Tuesday, rounding up some 190 migrants, only to release them the following day.
French immigration officials said the sweep marked the first step toward shutting down the jungle and that other security operations were planned, in particular to clamp down on smugglers.
"We will not let the situation deteriorate and you will not have to shut down your businesses," Besson told local business leaders who complained that the migrants were causing trouble in Calais.
Factory manager Dominique Vanneste told Besson that his employees were subjected to "daily attacks" from migrants who had "become much more aggressive."
Besson said he hoped that talks with Britain on the Calais migrant camp could produce results in time for a Franco-British summit on July 6.
Relief organisations estimate that between 600 and 800 migrants -- including Afghans, Eritreans, Somalis, Sudanese, Iranians, Nigerians and Kurds -- are sleeping rough in the Calais region.
Sandwiched between a road, a bus depot and an electricity station, the "jungle" is dotted with tents and over the past weeks a makeshift mosque in traditional blue has been added, surrounded by flowers.
Besson, a former Socialist who joined Sarkozy during his campaign for the presidency, also said eight million euros (10 million dollars) would be given to local authorities to help them cope.
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Enlarge Photo
Migrants look at a newspaper article in Calais. France aims to shut down by the end of the year a squatter camp in the Channel port of Calais used by migrants heading for Britain, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said Thursday.
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