Clashes, tear gas as Calais 'Jungle' dismantling starts
February 29, 2016
Police used tear gas to disperse dozens of migrants who lined up to prevent them pulling down the makeshift camp. Hundreds of tents and temporary shelters were torn down.
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
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Clashes break out as Calais migrant 'Jungle' dismantling begins
Police used tear gas to disperse dozens of migrants who lined up to prevent them pulling down the makeshift camp. Hundreds of tents and temporary shelters were torn down.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Valat
Migrants ready for confrontation
Dozens of migrants and activists faced off with French riot police at the Calais migrant "Jungle" on Monday, as workers began bulldozing the shantytown. Around 4,000 migrants - many of them from Syria and Iraq - have made the camp home and other sites around the town, as they attempt to reach Britain and apply for asylum or live illegally.
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
Temporary homes set ablaze
At least three makeshift shelters were set ablaze by migrants and activists to disrupt a French government order to pull down around a third of the camp, which sits on the outskirts of the northern French port town of Calais. Rows and rows of tents, caravans and wooden structures stretch for approximately 4 square kilometers (1.5 square miles).
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
Tear gas used as bulldozing begins
Clashes broke out between several migrants and police who used tear gas and water cannon to disperse those blocking their work. Two people were arrested during the scuffles. On Monday, French authorities brought dozens of riot police, after being threatened by activists on Friday when they first tried to partially tear down the site.
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
Water cannon helps disperse dozens of migrants
Police used water cannon to help disperse dozens of people who refused to leave the camp. French authorities said the migrants were given ample notice to quit and that many of the tents and wooden structures had already been abandoned.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Huguen
Many migrants are determined to stay
One migrant threatened to slash his wrist as police tried to evict him from the camp, which is bult on the site of a former toxic waste dump on the outskirts of Calais. A whole city has sprung up over the past year, complete with church, mosque, school and medical facilities.
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
Partial destruction of the 'Jungle' begins
Police and construction workers have been given permission to dismantle the southern end of the migrant camp. Two bulldozers and around two dozen workers moved in on Monday to start pulling down the shacks. But a judge in the French city of Lille insisted that many of the vital community facilities on site remain untouched.
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
'Jungle' conditions worsened over winter
Despite the best efforts of charities and church groups, conditions in the camp have deteriorated over the past few months. French authorities have encouraged migrants to move to better facilities in Calais itself or to apply for asylum in France and move to another city.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D.Charlet
'Warmer, safer' alternative housing offered
A fully-heated accommodation center, made of shipping containers, has been put up close to existing camp to house up to 1,500 migrants. But many people have complained about a lack of communal spaces and that their movement is restricted.
Image: DW/L. Scholtyssyk
Home to those escaping war and hunger
The Calais 'Jungle' has regularly hit the headlines despite playing just a tiny role in the current European migrant crisis. Compare its 4,000 inhabitants to events on the Greek-Macedonian border, where in just a few days, approximately 22,000 refugees have become stuck, due to border entry restrictions.
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
Desired destination...Britain
Most of the migrants have traveled to Calais because they want to reach Britain. Ever day, dozens attempt to climb onto trains or into the back of lorries, travelling through the Eurotunnel or by ferry to Dover, in England. Last summer, hundreds of migrants tried to scale security fences and enter the rail-only tunnel that links the UK and France.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Valat
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Video footage posted on social media on Monday showed police releasing several canisters of tear gas inside the camp, which sprang up in the northern French port town less than a year ago.
A group of about 150 migrants and activists threw stones at riot police as construction workers began dismantling hundreds of temporary structures in the camp's southern section, which have served as homes for migrants hoping to make their way across the English Channel to Britain.
Three makshift shelters were set ablaze and one person was arrested during the clashes.
Dozens of officers stood guard, keeping journalists and volunteers out as helmeted workers took down the shelters one by one.
Shock and anger
Several volunteers, who have spent months trying to improve conditions in the shantytown, were shocked when police suddenly moved in.
"We didn't think that it would happen with so many police. It's infinitely sad to see the waste of so much work that we've done in the past months," Maya Konforti, of the Auberge des Migrants charity, told the AFP news agency.
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
Prefect Fabienne Buccio, who had ordered the camp's destruction, said migrants had been given the time necessary to gather their belongings and that many of the structures had already been abandoned.
But video footage filmed on Monday still showed the usual daily signs of life in parts of the camp.
Some 4,000 people are estimated to live in the "Jungle," which sprang up last year after several smaller sites were bulldozed.
Human rights groups have lambasted the move, saying that limited housing alternatives are being offered to the migrants, despite assurances from local authorities.
The judge ordered that several structures within the camp remain untouched, including churches and mosques, a school and centers for legal and health assistance. The dismantling of the rest of the camp is expected to take several weeks.
A previous attempt to tear down the shantytown on Friday was delayed after what authorities called "extremist activists" prevented them from making much progress.
Chequered history
Calais has been a temporary home for thousands of migrants - fleeing war and poverty - for more than two decades. Several attempts to disperse them have only succeeded temporarily as many eventually returned to the Calais area and were joined by newcomers that have traveled through Europe to reach the coast.
Hundreds of them have made it to the UK by hiding in lorries, which use the Eurotunnel or ferries connecting France or the UK.
